Want beer
by Jinxgirl
Summary: What if after being in a coma, it was Faith who drank the enchanted cave slayer beer? Fuffy, AU, answer to Oral's challenge. femslash, language
1. Chapter 1

Want Beer: Chapter 1

She didn't know where she was going, didn't know what she was doing… and yet still she continued to put one foot in front of the other, as if by walking on, continuing to take herself to some place- any place- she would somehow be made to also realize her purpose, her identity…

Oh, she knew _what_ she was…she was Faith Lehane, rogue vampire Slayer, part time murderer, full time loser…she remembered her past in all its bleak entirety, right up to her sudden awakening today from her extended, Buffy-induced sleep via coma. What she was not so sure of was her future… or even her present. Faith knew exactly what she had been, what she would no doubt always be…a mistake. A girl who could do nothing without majorly fucking it up… a girl who had nothing and no one, and did not deserve to. A girl no one cared about, that many wished to be dead, or to have never been born in the first place- and rightfully so.

She knew _what_ she was, all right… her problem was that she did not know _who_ she was. And if she was going to be entirely honest with herself, she never really had.

She stumbled down the street in her borrowed- okay, stolen- clothes from the girl at the hospital, looking around herself with a slightly dazed incredulity. Two months in la-la land and everything had already seemed to change so much…

Clearly the Mayor's Ascension had somehow been foiled… and as always, Buffy had undoubtedly saved the day. Which also meant that undoubtedly, the Mayor was dead.

But Faith couldn't think about that now…her feelings about it were too much, too confusing for her to even begin to deal with. For as much as she genuinely was upset at the thought of the Mayor's death, was grieved by it, she also was, to her own startled perplexity, strangely glad he had not succeeded in his plans. She was relieved that the world, as shitty as it had always been to her, was still here. Different now, maybe- at least in Sunnydale's case- but still here. She was glad that Buffy had won… but mostly, she was glad that this meant that her sister Slayer was still alive.

Don't think about that… just keep walking, just keep going. You gotta figure out what you're gonna do now…

She had only been walking for about twenty minutes since having left the hospital, leaving the unconscious and now nude girl on the floor behind her with a pang of guilt that had unsettled her as much as anything else. But despite the brevity of her expenditure, Faith was already slowing, her legs feeling shaky and weak, her head light and slightly dizzy. Slayer healing or not, comas apparently took a lot out of you.

_As bad as a knife to the gut…_

Faith shook her head abruptly in an attempt to clear her mind of the dark thought, feeling her head spin slightly in response to the movement. She was NOT going to think about that…she wasn't going to think about anything. She wasn't going to dwell on all she didn't know, didn't understand… which as almost everything. It didn't matter … she'd figure it out. All that mattered now was getting inside somewhere, winding down a little, where everything wouldn't seem quite so strange and bad to her.

What she needed was to get drunk, to lose herself in a few drinks and some loud music, to dance and grind her way into a state of complete numbness… she needed a release, something that would make her let go even as she hid her feelings away.

It wasn't long before she saw it… a bar, a new one from the looks of it. The sign read 'Rayne's." Weird name for a bar…sounded vaguely familiar, but Faith didn't care to try to think why. Sh simply strode over to its entrance, pushing open the door and stepping inside. Overhead, a full moon shone.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Buffy was in the bathtub, full out relaxing, when she heard the phone ring downstairs. Sitting up somewhat jerkily, she wavered for a second, trying to decide whether she was going to ignore it. Here she was, lying up to her neck in bubble bath, having planned to have a nice, quiet, relaxing evening at home… and the very minute she felt all her muscles loosen up in bliss had, of course, been the moment her relaxation was so rudely interrupted.

As the phone rang a second time, Buffy lurched to her feet in the tub with a slight growl of irritation, reaching for her bathrobe and shrugging it on hurriedly. With her hair sodden down her back, water running in rivulets down her legs, she began to run to reach the phone, swearing when she almost slipped at the top of the stairs. By the time she picked up the receiver she was scowling, thoroughly annoyed, her words less than politely spoken.

"Hello?"

"Buffy?" came Willow's voice, and instantly Buffy listened up; the redhead sounded tense, hesitant, maybe even a little afraid. The rest of her words came out in rush Buffy only barely made sense out of.

"Buffy, don't panic, okay…maybe I'm wrong here, because you wouldn't think-"

"What? Why am I not panicking?" Buffy cut her off, her voice rising anxiously as she cut the other girl off before she had hardly even started. "What's going on, what happened? Are you okay? Is-"

"No, no, I mean, yes, I'm okay, Buffy, everyone's okay… that I know of anyway. I hope so, I don't-"

"Willow, just take a deep breath…just, just calm down and tell me what happened," Buffy stopped her again, making an effort to calm down herself as she heard Willow doing so over the receiver. "Just tell me what happened…"

"Okay…okay, like I said, maybe I'm wrong…" Willow began, obviously trying to make her voice calmer and more understandable. "I mean, I don't think so, but it's really weird, so maybe…okay. Okay, calming…okay. I was walking to Oz's, 'cause it's not that far, and the vamp activating it has been kinda low, you know, and I was going past a bunch of stores, some of those ones that just got new tenants, you know…and I walked past an alley, and…I don't know, I'm not sure, but I think I…I think I saw Faith."

Almost instantly Buffy's features tightened her spine stiffening, and her grip on the phone made her knuckles whiten. Willow's words had been far from what she had been prepared to hear…

It had been an uneventful summer so far. With the Mayor dead, the high school gone, and the Hell Mouth closed over once more, most of the vampires and demonic activity Buffy and the others were used to had died down. She had been enjoying- or almost enjoying, at any rate- a summer where she could just be normal, just prepare for college and spend time with friends…

Of course, it hadn't been exactly a carefree past two months even so. Hanging over her, casting a shadow on her days, was Angel's departure, memories of her injured and dead classmates, and stunningly enough, nostalgia for a high school she would never have thought possible to miss. But above all, what bothered her was Faith. Memories of how it had been between them, and how it had become… her resentments and regrets, her wishes and self defenses, and most powerfully of all, her confused feelings toward her sister Slayer now.

She didn't know what to think about Faith anymore, how she should feel. Her anger with her had faded since their shared Slayer dreams began… dreams that continued on a fairly regular basis, and that seemed to convey to Buffy that somehow, while in her coma, or maybe even before, Faith's attitude had changed. Buffy tried not to think about her now… because honestly, it made her feel too sad, too regretful…too guilty.

She knew now even if she could never say so to any but her own self that she had made mistakes in the way she had handled Faith. They had all made mistakes… granted, not like Faith's, but theirs had been important nonetheless. She had put Faith into a coma, she had stabbed her, almost put herself into the very category of evil deeds Faith herself had committed. Regardless of how Faith might be now, whether awakened or in a coma, Buffy knew now that this had been wrong… one of the biggest mistakes of her life. She could have found another way, regardless of what Faith had done, what she had become, there could have been other, better ways to deal with her. Maybe even ways to bring her back to what she had been…

She had told herself once, on the rare occasion where she let herself think about it, that if Faith woke up- and she HAD to, Buffy couldn't let herself think that she might could have killed her- then she would do what she could to do right by her, to rehabilitate her. But now that she was hearing Willow, actually telling her that Faith was awake… what was she supposed to do? How should she feel? How DID she feel?

Well, she was shocked, of course… but overwhelmingly, her first instinctive emotion had been relief.

"What?!" she blurted to Willow, her voice too loud, too panicky. "What do you mean, you 'think' you saw her, Willow? Either you saw her or you didn't… she's supposed to be in a coma, why wouldn't someone have told us if she had woke up? Why would she be around- where did you say she was, in an alley? What would she be doing there if she just got out of a coma?"

"I don't know…maybe she, she escaped the hospital or something," Willow said somewhat helplessly, and Buffy could almost see her biting her lip, twisting her hands nervously. "I'm not entirely sure it was her… I mean, it looked like her, but it was from a distance-"

"Will, either it was her or it wasn't! Didn't you look at her- that's kind of important for us to know if it's even her or not!" Buffy exclaimed in exasperation.

"Well that's the thing…" Willow hedged. "It _looked_ like her…but if it was her, she looked…weird. I mean, her hair, it was sort of nasty looking, all matted and tangled, I could tell even from a distance. And she looked all dirty and scratched up… and she was moving kind of weird. Jerky like… but kind of, I don't know, clumsy? But wild…like…I don't know, sort of like…I want to say like a gorilla."

Buffy could feel her face scrunching up with confusion, and she tried to think about what Willow was describing, what it might mean. Moving like a gorilla? Jerky, clumsy… that wasn't like Faith at all. Wild, yes… but her movements, as rough and impulsive as they might be, usually had a strange, almost feline fluidity to them, even when performed in an explosion of powerful action.

"Well…she, if it was really her, then she just came out of a coma," Buffy said slowly, trying to make sense of what Willow had told her. "Maybe it affected her brain somehow, her movements… maybe she's confused, she might not even remember what happened. Willow, she might not remember who she is. Doesn't that happen sometimes, when people come out of comas? Aren't they brain or nerve damaged sometimes, or have anesthesia?"

"Anesthesia?" Willow echoed, sounding puzzled. "You mean amnesia?"

"Yeah, that. She might have that… did she seem confused to you, or lost or something? Where did you say she was, an alley? What was she doing there? Was she hurt? Did she see you? Did she act hostile?" Buffy asked quickly, her questions tumbling rapidly over themselves as she continued to grip the phone tightly.

"I…I'm pretty sure she didn't see me," Willow said slowly. "She was kind of busy…it, it loked like she was slaying, there was a vampire there with her in the alley. But like I said, it was weird… the way she was moving, and looked…but, but she didn't have a stake either. She had…it looked like she was trying to stake it with a club…"

"A CLUB?!" Buffy blurted, incredulous. "What?!"

"Yeah…I know…that's what I thought too…but that's what it looked like, Buffy it was all big and fat-"

"Did you call out to her, or go closer to her, Willow? Did you-"

"No…no, I kind of froze and then slipped away before she could see me and come after me," Willow said guiltily, and Buffy could just picture her biting her lip on the other line, her eyes widening anxiously. "I'm sorry, Buffy, I just kind of panicked. I was so stunned to see her-"

"No, no, that's okay, Willow- you did the right thing," Buffy assured her quickly, even as her stomach tightened a little with her disappointment. "We can't know how she's thinking right now, how she might have reacted to you, whether she would have even recognized you. We don't know what's going on with her, what we're going to have to do with her now…"

She sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly, vaguely aware of the water still dripping down her back and legs, making small puddles on the floor.

"I…I guess I should go out looking for her…and you should call Giles and Xander and Oz, let them know, in case they run into her. But whatever is going on, whatever her mindset right now, I have to go find her…she's my responsibility."

Whatever might be wrong with her, whatever she might do now, it's on my head, Buffy thought to herself, not voicing this aloud to Willow. I did this to her… guess now I'll have to deal with any of the consequences that come from it.

Still, a big part of her, more than she wanted or would ever consciously admit to existing, was incredibly relieved by what Willow had told her. Faith was alive…in whatever condition, for whatever reason, Faith was alive, and awake. Buffy had not killed her… Faith was conscious, obviously mobile, and so there was a chance.

A chance for what, Buffy would not name even in her own thoughts…but it was enough to know that there was one. Whatever happened now, there was one… she just hoped that this time, everything would be different. She hoped that this time she would do everything right… that this time, Faith would be different, Faith would let her-

"Buffy?" came Willow's voice hesitantly, and Buffy, completely lost in her thoughts and unprepared to hear it, jumped slightly.

"What?" she asked quickly, her voice a little rushed and loud, betraying her startled state.

"There, there was one more thing… she had a club in one hand, or something that looked like a club… but, but she had a bottle of beer in the other hand. And…and she wasn't letting go of it, even while she was slaying…"

Well, that could explain some of the weirdness, Buffy thought with a mix of wryness and relief- for maybe there was a reason other than traumatic injuries for Faith' movements and behavior, as described by Willow. Buffy remembered vividly how crazy Faith could act when she was drunk…

"So you think she's been drinking?" Buffy said aloud to Willow, some sarcasm creeping into her voice. "Yeah, that's the first thing _I'd_ do after coming out of a two month coma… give my brain some more hurting. Great…all the more for me to deal with…"

She sighed again, as much for Willow's benefit as any true feeling of reluctance… for the moment she had heard that Faith might be awake, the prospect of going to find her had seemed a desirable one.

"Well I guess I better go find her before she does any damage…to herself, or to anyone else. You said she was in an alley by the main street row of shops?"

"Yeah…that was about ten minutes ago though, she's probably not there anymore," Willow said worriedly.

"Well don't worry, Will, she couldn't have gone too far. I'll find her. You just stay put, and call everyone else to warn them- and when I find her, see what's going on, I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay Buffy… be careful…"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine…I can handle her."

But could she… she didn't know what she was dealing with here, what it was that Faith was going to be…

Buffy hung up the phone, turning toward the living room doorway with the intention of going upstairs to put some clothes on before going out to look for Faith. But she had barely reached the foot of the stairs when her front door was heavily flung open right in front of her… and standing in its entrance way was the very person she had been prepared to search for.

Immediately Buffy could see why Willow had been so thrown off… for she had never seen Faith looking in the state that she was in now. Her long dark hair was badly snarled, what looked like branches and twigs sticking out of it… her clothing, which looked like nothing she would usually pick to wear, was torn and stained, her face scratched and smeared with dirt. As Willow had said, there was a partly emptied bottle of beer in one hand, and what was unmistakably a club- believe it or not- in the other…

As Buffy gawked at her, astonishment, amazement, and a strange, continuing relief at the sight of her and her sudden appearance flooding through herm, Faith strode through the door, a wide, almost child-like grin spreading across her face, sending her dimples into display. She tilted her head slightly as she stopped in front of Buffy, knocking her hip against her lightly, playfully. There was something in her eyes that was the strangest thing of all… something about them had changed, grown simpler, almost, and yet they were completely open and unguarded in a way that Buffy had never seen from her before.

It was the eyes that got to Buffy… for in them was no fear, no anger or resentment or cunning, none of the negative complexity that she was used to seeing from Faith before. Her eyes were somehow innocent….playful, happy, trusting… right now, Faith was entirely at ease with Buffy…she trusted her.

And this was further evident in the way her arm was currently snaking itself around Buffy's waist as Faith pressed herself against her in an affectionate, slightly clumsy hug… another thing Faith had rarely before done with her.

"Hey, B," she said in the husky tone Buffy was accustomed to. "Want beer?"

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Okay, Buffy thought to herself, taking a slow, shuddery breath in an attempt to sooth her badly shaken frame of mind. Okay…I guess I don't have to find her after all…

It had been one thing to listen to Willow…but to have Faith show up at her door and see her herself, to at this very moment be feeling her entire length pressed close to Buffy's only-barely-clad side… god, she didn't know what to think…

Could this really be from the coma… had it made her mentally regress somehow? Or was she just really drunk…or was it a combination of side effects from the coma and being drunk?

Well, at least she wasn't' acting threateningly towards her right now, or hostile… she definitely wasn't in Crazy Psycho Killer mode. In fact, she seemed downright thrilled to see Buffy…and very, very touchy-feely. She had her head leaned on Buffy's shoulder heavily, making Buffy want to cringe and push her away not only out of discomfort, but also because of the nasty, knotted state that the brunette's locks were in. Faith lifted her head briefly then, rubbing her nose against Buffy's neck in a strange, misguided Eskimo kiss, and sniffed her noisily.

"B smell good…"

Flinching in reaction to the little jolt that shot through her when Faith's skin made contact with hers as much as with the weirdness of the situation, Buffy tried to pull away from Faith quickly. Her mind raced with questions and possibilities as she tried to figure out what was going on here…yeah, _definitely_ Faith seemed to have no vengeful feelings toward her at the moment. Did she have that amnesia thing…at least some form of it? She knew who Buffy was… but how much did she actually remember? And what was Buffy supposed to do with her now, considering how she was behaving?

The arm Faith had looped around Buffy's waist was the one holding the club, and she dropped it, nearly right on top of Buffy's foot. With that hand now free, she began to stroke it up Buffy's side, first across her chest, and then underneath her robe's opening, making her way down towards her naked breasts. With the hand still holding the beer bottle, she held it up to Buffy's face, poking it somewhat roughly toward her lips.

"B want beer? Beer good… B want?"

"Hey! Stop it, Faith!" Buffy cried as Faith's hand gave her breast a clumsy squeeze. She ripped Faith's hand out from under her robe, holding her wrist so she couldn't put it back under there. Her face was burning with embarrassment more than anger… and an unwelcome, rather alarming flash of arousal. As Buffy turned her face away from Faith's offer of her drink, Faith's brow furrowed in hurt and confusion, her dark eyes narrowing slightly.

"B no want? It good…"

Giving a little shrug, she tried again to stick her hand under Buffy's robe, but Buffy held her wrist away, squawking in humiliate indignation.

"Faith, no, stop it! What are you doing- what the hell is wrong with you?!"

Faith grunted in perplexed frustration as Buffy kept her hand from touching her, trying to yank it away in a slightly clumsy manner- something else that was most unlike her, Buffy noted. What WAS wrong with her- why wasn't she launching an all out fight to get what she wanted? And WHY did she want this- why was she being so weird?!

"Faith want… Faith want B. B nice…B soft… B feel good, Faith want. Faith like…"

She tried for a third time to slide her hand down into Buffy's robe, but Buffy held her back, goggling. Why was she talking like that, like a two-year-old? Had the coma messed with her brain that much? But more importantly, what was she _saying_?! She _wanted_ her…what?!

"No, Faith, I said stop it!" she said sharply, raising her voice, and feeling like a cross between a kindergarten teacher and a dog trainer. "Stop touching me!"

She pushed Faith away from her a little more, still holding her by the wrist with one hand, and grabbing her by the shoulder with the other. Holding her as still before her as she could while Faith squirmed and made a throaty whining sound of confusion, she looked her over more closely, trying to tell if maybe something else might have happened to her. A head injury, maybe, or some kind of spell…there had to be some reason she was acting like this, and Buffy wanted to know it, if only to be relieved of the responsibility. Both of caring for Faith like she was now- for in this state she clearly required it- and for maybe having been the one to cause it…

She noticed for the first time that there was a tear in the other Slayer's red jacket, at the shoulder, and moving it aside to get a better look at it, she saw that the shirt underneath was stained with blood, what looked like a shard from a beer bottle sticking out of the injured area. Buffy sighed to herself, shaking her head… what, one day out of a coma, and the mentality of a two-year-old pervert, and Faith STILL manages to get into a bar fight?

She didn't know what she should do with her, or even what she wanted to do to her… but somehow she found her hand sliding from Faith's wrist to her hand, tugging her gently yet firmly toward the kitchen. At any rate, she had to keep an eye on Faith for now..even if she didn't' remember what she had done, even if she didn't want to hurt anyone, she still had an obligation to make sure Faith didn't hurt herself at least. Any worse than she had already anyway… and the way she was behaving now, Buffy doubted safety and self defense were at the top of her capabilities.

"Come on, Faith…let's go take care of that," she said reluctantly, nodding her head toward Faith's shoulder. Faith went with her willingly enough, though she was pouting slightly, seeming perturbed to be denied access to Buffy's body, and still puzzled as to why she wasn't allowed to it.

_At least Mom will be working late in the gallery tonight_, Buffy thought gratefully as she fished under the sink for a first aid kit, still holding Faith by the wrist… whether the other Slayer seemed harmless or not, she wasn't' taking her chances yet. _I can only imagine how she'd react to this…damn, I still don't know how __**I'm**__ reacting to this…_

Retrieving the kit, she sat Faith down in one of the chairs before the kitchen table, peeling her jacket off and making a face at how dirty it was. She winced slightly at the glass sticking out of Faith's shoulder… yes, definitely a beer bottle. What in the world had she been up to?

Buffy wondered briefly if she should call Giles and let him deal with this as Faith squirmed before her, not liking having to sit still. But she told herself that she would at least take care of her shoulder first, clean her up a little.

For even now, Buffy could not deny to herself that she was glad to see Faith. Even in the state she was in- even knowing that something seemed to be wrong- she couldn't help but be almost thrilled to see her in person for herself, to know that Faith was really awake and alive…she wanted to take a few minutes to be alone with her, to take care of her a little, before everyone else knew she had found her. She couldn't explain it…but that was how she felt…

Not touching Faith's shoulder yet, she looked up at her, meeting her eyes.

"Faith…can you tell me what happened? How you hurt yourself, why you're…why you're like this?"

Given Faith's current behavior, that seemed a long shot… she didn't even seem capable of speaking in complete sentences, let alone giving her a long, complex story about what had happened.

Sure enough, Faith's brows drew together into a frown of confusion and concentration, and she looked at Buffy as if she couldn't quite figure out what she was asking. Buffy decided to try to make it simpler.

"Faith, what did you do today?"

At that Faith's expression cleared, and she smiled at Buffy with some earnest eagerness, leaning forward excitedly.

"Faith like beer. Beer good. B want beer?" she asked, holding up the bottle again- which, oddly enough, despite her talking about it, Buffy hadn't seen her drinking from any further since she had first showed up.

Buffy pushed her hand down again gently, not wanting to irritate her when she could be so unpredictable…especially now.

"No, I don't want any, Faith."

"Beer good!" Faith insisted, holding it back up to Buffy's lips. "B take!"

"No, B no take!" Buffy shot back, finding herself slipping into Faith's new manner of talking without quite meaning to, and flushing slightly. "I don't want it, Faith… not right now, anyway," she muttered to herself a little resentfully.

She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, trying again.

"So you drank beer, Faith… was it in a bar? Is that where you got hurt?"

"Bar," Faith agreed, nodding her head. "Beer. Good beer. Faith like beer…"

Her smile shifted, growing slyer, more insinuative in a way that Buffy instantly recognized, seeing as she had seen it from the old Faith so often.

"Faith like B…"

As one of Faith's hands went to Buffy's cheek, beginning to stroke it in a way that was slightly awkward and rough, Buffy blinked, pulling away. What was she doing…why did she keep circling around to this 'I Tarzan, I like Jane' business- only with THEIR names substituted?!

As Faith frowned, reaching for Buffy again, Buffy took her hands quickly, holding them where the dark-haired Slayer couldn't move, and suddenly realized that Faith's hands too were dirty, scratched, and rough-feeling…yet she STILL got that weird, nonsensical little jolt running through her by making physical contact with them.

"Faith," Buffy tried one last time, sighing… she was going to have to tend to the other girl's shoulder, she needed to call Giles and everyone else…but first she wanted to try to get at least some idea of what was going on. "How did you get hurt? And all dirty like this- no, too complicated…just, how did you get hurt?"

Finally Faith seemed to understand and respond in a related way; in fact, she got a lot wordier than Buffy had expected.

"Faith fight. Men, bad men, want hurt Faith. Bad men, bad," she said with some excitement, even a little urgency, looking into Buffy's eyes as if she were now seeking her understanding. She gestured at her shoulder, then toward a bruised-appearing cheek.

"Sharp teeth men too. Want hurt Faith. Faith hurt too," she said, making a staking notion with one hand still enclosed in Buffy's. "Sharp teeth men gone."

So Faith had been slaying, like Willow had said… Buffy had figured as much. She doubted she was going to get much more out of her.

But she was wrong. As she released Faith's hands, reaching for her shoulder to begin tending to it, Faith started talking again in a helpful manner, as if she were still wanting to explain.

"Bad sharp tooth man. Want hurt Faith. Want hurt B. Faith not let."

"Wanted to hurt me?" Buffy said, curious in spite of herself, as she got out some disinfectant and gauze, as well as a pair of tweezers to pluck the glass out with. "Did he say that?"

It seemed from the way she was acting, from what she was saying- even if she wasn't fully herself right now- that Faith did not want to be bad again… that she didn't' consider herself to be bad. If anything, she seemed to like Buffy a little TOO much… which was just, just weird, of course. But maybe this was good. Maybe they could help her, could rehabilitate her, even once she was fixed again. If she _could_ be fixed…

"Say that," Faith agreed, nodding. "Funny-haired sharp tooth man. Too bright. Funny voice."

She tried to imitate it, coming up with a slightly growling, very bad British accent.

"Bloody slayer… bollocks, wanker, bloody sodding Slayer… bloody Slayer die. Dru like I kill-"

"DRU?!" Buffy blurted, her voice rising in sharp disbelief. "He said Dru- the name Dru? As in DRUSILLA?! He, he said bloody, bollocks, wanker-"

"Bloody, bollocks, wanker," Faith confirmed. "Dru like I kill-"

"You…you killed SPIKE?!" Buffy cried, her voice going shrill as she pulled back from Faith, blinking rapidly as she stared at her, her mouth slightly open. "Spike came back to Sunnydale- and you killed him?!"

"Funny voice man gone," Faith agreed, making another rough staking gesture. "No more hurt."

Buffy just continued to stare at her, her eyes wide… and then she burst out laughing, so loudly and hysterically that tears gushed from her eyes, and her torso undulated with the force of it. Faith stared at her, startled at first by her reaction, maybe even a little afraid. But then her lips slipped into a pout, and she scowled at Buffy, speaking in an injured tone.

"B laugh at Faith. Faith not funny! No laugh!"

"S-sorry," Buffy gasped, wiping at her eyes as she tried to calm herself, but another snort escaped in spite of herself. Faith had killed Spike…god, this was just too much. She obviously was on the good side of things- for now, at least…

Faith was still pouting, looking at Buffy in a very injured fashion.

"Faith hungry…"

"Okay, okay," Buffy said, taking a deep breath and finally getting herself mostly under control, though the urge to giggle was still upon her. "I'll get you something to eat after I fix you up, okay?"

While I'm calling Giles, she told herself silently. I'll Faith-sit until he get over here and sorts everything out…

"Faith horny," Faith persisted, clearly not finished, and she put her hand directly on Buffy's left breast, beginning to grope her in a fumbling but quickly assured manner, her hand sliding toward the opening of Buffy's robe.

Buffy jerked away from her quickly, snatching Faith's wrist; when Faith looked at her in confusion, she shook her head at her, trying to pretend that her heart hadn't just sped up in its beats.

"No, now that I am NOT getting for you- or giving to you- okay? No!"

"Faith want!" Faith insisted, her voice rising slightly as she looked at Buffy with sudden urgency, and a hint of anger. "Faith want, Faith horny-"

"Faith has glass sticking out of her shoulder, so hold still!" Buffy said quickly, and before Faith could protest, she took the glass between her tweezers, yanking it out.

Faith didn't take very kindly to that. Too late Buffy realized she should have been gentler, should have given her warning…but of course, by then it was already done and over with.

Faith let out a hoarse, yet somehow also shrill, cry of pain and fear, mingled with anger. She must not have understood, must have thought that Buffy wanted to hurt her. Cocking back her fist, she tried to punch Buffy in the nose with fierce instincts. Only very quick reflexes allowed Buffy to turn her had in time to escape this, and as it was Faith's fist still made contact with her jaw. Sharp pain shot through it, and as Buffy sucked in her breath, momentarily stunned, Faith threw her to the floor, starting to scramble beside her with aggression quickly coming over her features.

Buffy recovered quickly, rolling to the side and scrambling to her feet as Faith did as well more slowly, confused, though still watching her with defensive animal instincts. Shit…she saw Buffy as a threat now, how was she going to subdue her?

Faith lunged at her suddenly, wildly, with much strength in her movements, but she was so obvious in broadcasting what she was going to do that Buffy caught her easily, holding her away from her. As Faith struggled wildly, twisting and trying to hit and kick out at her brutally but ineffectively, she was making frustrated, angry little grunts that occasionally sounded almost like whimpers to Buffy…as if she were also frightened.

She probably is, Buffy realized with some surprise. If she doesn't remember anything… and she has a two-year-old mentality… she probably thinks I'm going to hurt her too. Maybe even that she has to kill me too…damn…

"Faith calm down!" Buffy told her raising her voice over the noises she was making and trying to sound calm, reasonable, even soothing as she struggled to keep hold of the other Slayer in her wild fighting. "It's okay… I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to help you!"

"No-no hurt Faith- bad, B bad!" Faith yelled. She had managed to get in several painful kicks and blows in, but Buffy resisted the urge to hit her back, as hard as that was, knowing that it would only make her worse. She was very aware of her nudity under her robe as she tried not only to keep Faith back, but also to keep her robe tied securely around her. She was just glad Faith had dropped the club earlier…but weirdly, she was still clutching the beer bottle in one hand, seeming to not even consider letting go of it so she could use that hand too.

"No, Buffy help Faith!" Buffy yelled back, finding herself slipping once more into Faith's childish dialect without meaning to. Maybe she would understand her better like that…

"Buffy help Faith, okay? Faith hurt, Buffy help. Buffy, Buffy make better…"

Faith slowed in her fierce lashing out, as the words seemed to sink in…so maybe Buffy shouldn't feel so silly talking like that to her after all, Buffy thought to herself, relieved. She gentled her hold on Faith as Faith stopped, as if to prove to her that she was telling the truth. Faith stared at her, her eyebrows drawn together, her lips pushed out into a pout. Buffy realized that there was hurt in her eyes, a deep sentiment of feeling betrayed… as well as a shimmer of tears.

Looking at her, Buffy felt her heart squeeze with guilt…illogical as she told herself that was. Guilt, and a desire to comfort and reassure her…

And what was up with that?

"B hurt Faith," Faith said in a low voice, and the tears were closer to the surface than ever…god, this was so NOT the Faith Buffy had been used to.

"I'm sorry," Buffy replied softly, fighting against a sudden urge to hug her, filthy or not, weirdness, and past history between them or not. "I'm trying to help you…okay? Now sit down."

She hesitantly turned Faith by the shoulders, sitting her back in the chair, and Faith let her, still watching her with brimming eyes. Buffy tried to convince herself that she really didn't want to get a washcloth and wipe her face off…okay, well if she did, it was just because th dirt and grime was bothering her, not because-

"Faith hungry," Fait said in the same small, soft voice, her shoulders hunching in on themselves like a small child who had been scolded. "Faith want food… Faith want B nice…"

"Buffy _is_ nice," Buffy told her, then muttering to herself more because she felt she should then because she really felt it, "a lot more nice than she should be acting right now…"

In her struggling Faith's wound had broken open and was bleeding again, and Buffy did what she could to stop it and cleanse it, being more careful this time. As Faith flinched and made little grunting noises, still clutching her beer bottle tightly, Buffy tried to reassure her.

"It's okay. Uh…Buffy help. Faith hurt, Buffy help…"

God…what was she going to do now? What in the world _could_ she do?

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

God, I'm glad Mom's not home right now, Buffy found herself thinking repeatedly as she glanced over at Faith, listening to the rings of the cordless phone in her hand as she waited for Giles to pick up on the other line. I have no idea how she's going to react…I don't even know how I'M reacting…

She had sat Faith down once more at the table with a glass of water and some leftover chicken; even as mess-free as such fare would normally be for most people, Faith was still managing to make this a challenging meal. For one thing, she had gulped down the water so fast that some of it spilled down her chin onto her shirt, and the part she managed to drink had gone down so fast it sent her into a coughing, choking fit. And as for the chicken, Faith seemed to be getting it more all over the table and floor than in her mouth…

It made Buffy feel vaguely sick to watch her eat so rapidly and ravenously, like a starving animal… before, Faith had definitely not been much for table manners, but this was incredible. Why was she so hungry anyway? Yeah, she'd been slaying, but this-

_She's been in a coma for two months…all she's had is glucose. Of course she's hungry…_

Buffy yanked her eyes away from Faith hurriedly at this guilty thought, making herself focus once more on the phone. Why wasn't Giles answering anyway? He was unemployed, he shouldn't be out, he should be around so-

"Faith, stop it!" she said sharply as she noticed suddenly that Faith had stripped the chicken legs clean and now was biting down hard on the bones, trying to eat them too. She hurried over to her and pried it away, against Faith's indignant protests.

"Faith hungry! Faith want! B give!" she demanded, and Buffy threw the bones away hurriedly, her eyes scanning the kitchen for something to hand her to eat instead.

Just then Giles chose to pick up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Faith WANT! Faith HUNGRY!" Faith called out in the background, standing up quickly as she came closer to Buffy… possibly feeling threatened enough to lash out at her again.

Oh damn…Buffy thought as her eyes darted from Faith to her kitchen cabinets; she could hear Giles saying her name in a worried tone into the phone, no doubt having heard Faith's voice and reacting with alarm and confusion.

"Yeah I'm here Giles…hold on…"

She grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl, then another for good measure, thrusting them both at the scowling, upset Faith quickly.

"Here, Faith, eat these…sit down, okay? I mean… Faith eat. Faith sit," she said, pointing first at the bananas, then the chair, and feeling like an idiot. Or at the very least a teacher of the mentally challenged.

But whatever the case, it seemed to work, or at least for the moment. Faith took the bananas, sniffing them dubiously, and sat down in her chair. Breathing a sigh of relief, Buffy spoke again into the receiver.

"Yeah, I'm here, Giles…sorry, it's sort of crazy over here right now. Literally."

"Buffy, what IS going on over there? Is that Faith's voice I heard?" Giles asked tersely. "Do you know why she is speaking in that manner?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Buffy sighed, and then her eyes widened as they came to rest on Faith. "Faith, no, you don't eat them like that!"

Faith had taken a large bite into one of the bananas, peel and all, and was now trying to chew it as she made a face at the bitter taste and her difficulty doing so. Rushing over to her again, Buffy took the banana from her and peeled it, then the other, handing them back to her.

"Eat this… god, this is insane…"

"What is happening over there?" Giles demanded. "You have Faith… how did you find her and bring her to your home? Are you quite all right? Has she behaved in a hostile manner- does she retain her pre-coma memories? Willow called me-"

"I didn't find her," Buffy said quickly, still keeping an eye on Faith, who was now eating her peeled bananas at a messy and alarming speed. "She came to me. Showed up on the doorstep with a beer bottle in one hand and a club in the other. I don't' know if she's drunk, or if it's because of the coma, or what…but she's acting soooo weird, Giles," she said, lowering her voice as she glanced at Faith again.

"Weird? How so?"

"Well, the way she's walking and talking, for one… and the way she's eating, like she's never sat at a table in her life. She just tried to eat a banana with the peel on, Giles! That's not normal! It's … I don't know… it reminds me of almost Tarzan or something… or some kind of cave woman!" Buffy exclaimed, still looking at Faith often. The brunette had finished her bananas and was starting to stand, so Buffy quickly handed her an apple. That should keep her busy for, oh, another sixty seconds or so… if she ate it core, seeds, and all.

"Hmm…that's rather intriguing," Giles murmured thoughtfully. "Did you say that she doesn't behave aggressively or hostilely toward you? And she doesn't seem to remember any events before her coma? Does she remember who you are, or who she is? She did find you, and I heard her say her own name, so I suppose she does. That is, unless you told her what her name is, of course…"

"No, she knew my name, and her name," Buffy told him, still glancing at Faith frequently as she chewed her apple noisily and messily, her snarled hair hanging in her face. "And she seems to remember things… well, some things. As for all the…" she glanced at Faith again, dropping her voice, "going evil stuff… I don't think she does remember."

"Hmm," Giles mused again, and Buffy could just picture him cleaning his glasses one-handed as he frowned thoughtfully. "She does speak, though, and she does communicate in a meaningful manner, even if her words are rather primitive… perhaps the coma caused a minor stroke in her brain, from nerve and tissue damage- the blood loss could have done that, I suppose. The alcohol couldn't have helped with that either. Or perhaps the combination of the two produced the results you observe. Perhaps she has a type of aphasia-"

"Faith, don't eat that!" Buffy interrupted him, going quickly back over to the other girl's side. Faith had apparently discovered a tube of cherry chapstick sitting out on the kitchen table. She had managed to twist it up a considerable amount and had taken a bite of it, smearing a good bit around her lips. Buffy took it away from her, to Faith's whining protest. Faith reached for the beer bottle she had finally set down, taking a fast drink of it, as though she thought she were getting away with something, before holding it out to Buffy again.

"B want beer?"

"No, Buffy DOES NOT want beer!" Buffy almost growled, pushing her hand away, but Faith shoved it back at her, frowning.

"Faith share. B take. B take…"

"No, I'm not sitting here drinking beer with you!" Buffy said loudly. She could not believe the ridiculousness of the situation she was in. One moment she was in the tub with no problems in sight, for that moment at least… the next, she was here, with a strangely devolved Faith in her kitchen, only a bathrobe keeping her from being buck named, with a very friendly Faith trying to 'share' her beer with her…

Not only a strangely friendly Faith… a strangely FLIRTY one! Well, if you want to call grabbing someone's bare boob _flirting_…

"God, Giles, this is insane," she almost moaned into the phone as she quickly opened a package of Pop Tarts for Faith, thrusting them at her and holding the wrapping in one hand in case Faith tried to eat it too. "It's like being with a two year old, I'm not joking. Can you please get over here and tell me what's wrong with her?"

"Well, I'm not so sure that I would know for certain myself," Giles said hesitantly. "But certainly I will come, Buffy- I'm on my way. Try to look on the bright side for now… at least she doesn't seem…er… quite so homicidal this time around."

"That's me, bright and shiny," Buffy said sarcastically. "Okay, well, I'll try to keep her busy…

"All right, Buffy…and if you notice anything else unusual…"

"Oh…uh… well, there is one thing," Buffy said slowly, and she glanced at Faith quickly, once more lowering her voice. She could feel her cheeks flaming as she said, "I… see, Giles, she, uh, the way she's acting, I think she… I think maybe she… kind of likes me," Buffy finally finished, spitting the last part out in one rushing breath as she looked over at Faith again quickly, trying to see if she had heard and understood.

"Well, Buffy," Giles replied, seeming perplexed as to why she sounded so awkward. "That may seem strange, but if she has any of the conditions we mentioned… and that is certainly preferable to her behaving in a hostile manner-"

"No, Giles, you don't get it," Buffy interrupted, her voice growing even more strained as she glanced at Faith again- she had finished her Pop Tarts and was now fiddling with the chapstick, getting it smeared over the table and her hands. "She…she keeps smiling at me… and touching me…and…and groping me."

She heard Giles choke slightly; it was a few moments before he sputtered a reply.

"Yes, well, ah, that, that is interesting, Buffy…er, perhaps, perhaps that is part of the brain damage- or, or being intoxicated-"

"Will you please just get over here quickly?" Buffy pleaded. "I need your help…and I want you to see her for yourself, Giles."

"I'm not so sure I want to see her, if all this is really going on," Giles muttered, but not low enough for Buffy not to hear.

"Giles!"

"Yes, yes, I shall be there within fifteen minutes..there are some things I would like to look up first. Until then can you manage?"

"Yeah, I guess," Buffy grumbled, looking over at Faith again. Not for the first time it occurred to her that she was nearly naked, her hair still drying…but how could she change when she had to watch Faith every second? And she certainly couldn't change in front of her with the way she was behaving…

"I'll be there shortly- just hang in there."

"Yeah, okay…hurry, Giles."

Buffy hung up the phone then, turning back toward Faith with a sigh. Now what… keep shoving food at her to keep her busy? Just keep an eye on her unless she asks for more? Try to talk to her to figure out what was going on?

Well, 'talking' wasn't on Faith's agenda, at any rate… as Buffy looked over at her, the other Slayer was getting to her feet, loping towards her with a slowly spreading, suspiciously familiar smile. As Buffy held still, waiting to see what she was about to do, Faith slipped an arm around Buffy's waist again, tilting her head and smiling at her coyly, clearly trying to be persuasive and seductive in her manner.

And strangely, it's almost working… Buffy thought before she could stop herself, her face going crimson. WHY is it almost working?!

"B nice," Faith said slowly, her grin widening even further. "B pretty… Faith like…B want?"

She used the hand currently around Buffy's hip to creep around to her robe tie, tugging at it in a clumsy, one-handed attempt to untie it. With the other hand Faith slipped her fingers down the front of Buffy's robe again- clearly she hadn't got the message the first time around.

Buffy gasped, shocked- almost as much at her own initial pleasurable reaction as to Faith's daring. For whether or not she wanted to admit it, her heartbeat had spiked at Faith's touch, a little thrill spreading through her nervous system…in a way that was far from horrible to experience.

Hurriedly she pushed Faith back from her, pulling her robe me securely around herself and compulsively checking that the belt was still tied. She could not seem to calm her heartbeat again…

"FAITH! You can NOT touch me like that!" she cried, her voice slightly choked. "Don't do that again, I MEAN it!"

Faith frowned at her, bewildered, clearly not understanding Buffy's reaction. Her eyes narrowing with hurt, she cocked her head again, her eyebrows scrunching up.

"No touch? But Faith like…Faith want…B soft, B nice, B pretty…Faith WANT-"

"Well Faith can't have!" Buffy snapped, a little more harshly than she had intended, and she flinched inwardly as Faith's face fell even further.

"B no like?" she said in a small voice, her eyes glittering with her pain at the words. "B no like Faith?"

Oh god, Buffy thought, not knowing whether to scream, or to laugh hysterically. This is so insane… please tell me this isn't really happening…

But Faith obviously expected a reply, and in some form or another, Buffy was going to have to give her one. And clearly she'd have to be diplomatic… making Faith upset when she was trying to keep her contained was not a good idea.

And WHY was she upset… why did Faith suddenly seem so damn enthralled with her?

Well why are _you_ acting towards her like _you_ are… _reacting_ towards her like you are?

Having no answer to that, and really not wanting to think about it any further, Buffy addressed Faith quickly, trying to placate her.

"No…no, uh, I, I like you…uh, B like Faith…"

"Faith not pretty?" Faith interrupted in the same small, hurt tone, looking Buffy in the eye. "Faith not nice? B not like?"

Oh my god…how the hell am I supposed to answer that one?!

"No…no, Faith nice…Faith pretty, B like…" Buffy said in helpless near disgust, wanting in that moment to be anywhere but there in her kitchen, answering those questions. Her eyes darted back to her cabinets, scanning for some food to distract Faith with, but she had already emptied the fruit bowl…

"Then why?" Faith frowned, seeming more perplexed than ever. "B like Faith… B say pretty…B want…why no touch?"

Before Buffy could stop her, she came over to her again. This time she wrapped both arms around her in surprisingly gentle hug, nuzzling her knotted head into Buffy's shoulder. She wasn't trying to grope her this time…she kept her hands somewhat more safely on Buffy's back. However, just being this close to her, with only a thin robe keeping her from complete nudity against her, made Buffy extremely uncomfortable.

_And excited…NO!_

"Faith nice," Faith repeated, and she pushed her face into Buffy's neck so that Buffy felt her hot breath against her, making her squirm and flush with anxiety. "Faith soft…B want? B…"

She began to kiss Buffy's neck, but in an awkward, sloppy manner, more like a baby would kiss than a sexually experienced seventeen-year-old. Somehow this unsettled Buffy even further, and she cried out loudly, shoving Faith off of her so hard that the brunette almost fell to the floor before her.

"Faith, STOP IT! STOP DOING THAT!" she yelped, and she tried to deny her sudden shortness of breath, the way her heart was galloping wildly in her chest.

Faith stared at her, her face frozen with horror as well as awed astonishment…then she scurried away from Buffy to the opposite side of the room, flattening herself against the wall as she looked at her with stricken features and eyes that glittered both with anger and rising tears.

"Why not like Faith?" she demanded, and her voice shook, equal parts rage and hurt. "Faith like! Faith want! Why not B like!"

"Because!" Buffy yelled back at her before she could stop herself, before she could censor what she was saying. "Because I CAN'T, Faith!"

"CAN!" Faith shot back, glaring fiercely. "Faith pretty, Faith nice- can!"

"No, Faith, I CAN'T- I'm NOT going to let you kiss me, I'm NOT going to let you grope me, I'm NOT going to let you have sex with me, and I'm NOT going to love you!" Buffy shouted, losing control entirely.

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Buffy instantly wished she could take them back. Not because they weren't true…they WERE true, they WERE, she told herself fiercely. But still she shouldn't have said them, or at least shouldn't have said them like that. There was no telling how Faith would respond now…

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

For a few moments it didn't seem that Faith was going to give off any kind of reaction at all. She was just standing, her back pressed against the wall, staring at Buffy as if she could not quite believe or make sense of what she had said. Her face was strangely pale, even through the grime, her mouth open slightly, and she looked at Buffy with wide, astonished eyes… eyes that slowly clouded over with what seemed to Buffy at first to be fear. But after a few moments, she changed her mind… it seemed not to be fear, but memory…realization…and judging from her expression, her hunched, almost defeated posture, it was not a good one.

Very slowly, Faith's right hand slid across her side towards her stomach… she didn't lift up her shirt, but Buffy knew with a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach what it was she doing. She was touching with her scar… the scar that Buffy had given her…

Whether Faith had remembered all along what had happened between them, and just been recently reminded, or whether she had only just now remembered, Buffy did not know. But she knew, could see nakedly in Faith's expression, from the way her breathing changed, that the younger girl remembered now…

The question was, what was Faith going to do now…had Buffy completely blown it here? Or was there still a chance…was there any possibility now that Buffy could keep her here, keep her calm…and un-evil?

"B no like," Faith almost whispered, and her hand was still covering the scar on her stomach… "B no like Faith…Faith bad…Faith BAD…"

Her features stiffened, shifting into an expression of clear distress and pain that were so exaggerated she almost looked to be in agony…whether she actually felt so badly, or whether her emotions and expression were simply exaggerated in her current mental and physical state, Buffy didn't know. But as she looked at Faith, at a loss as to what to do, what Faith was thinking, the extent of detail she remembered, Buffy didn't' really care about any of that. All she knew was that whatever Faith was thinking about, it was clearly hurting her… and whatever it was, it undoubtedly circled back to Buffy. Buffy played a part, maybe even the starring role, in Faith's mind…

She wanted then to go to her, to touch and speak to Faith soothingly, to calm her fearful glance and reassure her, take away the stunned, haunted look in her dark eyes… a look that was such a contrast to the clear, guileless innocence and trust that had been there before, to the open smile that had frequently crossed her face. Buffy wanted to bring that back, as weird and unsettling as it had been… anything was better, more bearable, than the way Faith looked now.

Buffy didn't know why it was so hard for her to look at Faith, to keep from wanting to draw near her, to touch her… she didn't know why Faith, after all that happened between them, and no matter how harmless, and child-like she seemed now, could still manage to make her feel so torn, so guilty and pitying…so…so…

But how would Faith react now if she went to her, after her outburst? Would she lash out- would she simply continue to cower away against the wall? Or would she run? What should Buffy do… how should she try to fix what mess she had made of things?

All these thoughts ran through Buffy's mind in a few seconds' time, as her temples strained slightly with the pressure, her stomach tightening in discomfort. This was not fast enough for her to make any kind of decision as to how she felt, let alone what to do. As usual, Faith being the more impulsive girl- especially in her current state- was the one to act first.

Faith pressed herself even harder up against the wall, as if she were trying to meld herself into it, trying to flatten out into it or push herself through to the other side. She kept straining herself against it for several moments, as if she didn't quite realize that the wall was a physical barrier she would not be able to surpass. Her eyes were wide, her face still drawn in the same pained expression from before, and she made little noises that were half grunts, half whimpers as she continued to push herself back against the wall, her eyes darting about rapidly.

"Faith bad," she almost whispered, her voice very small at first. "B hurt, Faith bad. Faith hurt, Faith no good…Faith bad. B no like Faith, Faith bad…"

Her voice started to pick up in speed and volume as she went along, and she continued, her words getting higher, faster, and more upset, almost frantic…

"Faith bad…Faith bad, Faith BAD, B no like, Faith bad…"

Her words picked up speed even more, and she was almost chanting now, her voice high getting shrill, almost running together.

"Faith bad. Faith bad, Faith bad, Faith bad… B no like, B hurt, Faith hurt, Faith bad…Faith bad, Faith bad…"

Abruptly she turned to face the wall, starting to bang her head against it in a fast, fierce tempo that had no rhythm to it…it only consisted of hard, certainly painful pounding. This seemed to be Faith's way of trying to punish herself, by giving herself physical pain…or maybe in her oddly primitive state she was just so agitated and/or frustrated that this was the first instinct that popped into her head, as ineffective as it was, and she went with it.

Or maybe she was trying to somehow put an end to her thoughts, her memories, whatever extent they reached now. Maybe she was trying to literally knock them out of her head…

"Faith…bad…" she grunted, breathing in little gasping exclamations as her head smacked against the wall repeatedly, her tangled hair flying to cover her face, then expose it, as she continued to bang her head, showing no signs of slowing down or stopping. Her face was screwed up into a look of intense feeling so strongly that her features seemed hardened, almost as if locked into one expression.

Buffy had been astonished when Faith started to do this. It had startled her enough when she just started saying how bad she was, when she seemed to be not getting angry at Buffy… not blaming Buffy…but herself. But then when she started to hit her head against the wall, Buffy was alarmed… what was she doing?! Why was she doing that… she was just banging her head, she was going to hurt herself like that. With her Slayer strength, she would probably knock herself right into another coma…

Somehow it upset her very much to see Faith doing that, to see her so obviously upset and behaving in a self-destructive fashion. She wasn't about to analyze it, whether now or later…all she knew was that she had to stop her, had to help her, right away…

She rushed over to Faith quickly and wrapped her arms around her from behind, physically forcing her to move away from the wall. Automatically Faith kicked into her defensive mode, struggling against her furiously…but even as she bucked and strained against her, twisting herself so much that it was extremely hard for Buffy to hold her, Buffy could tell that she was trying not to hurt her. She was just trying to escape…so she could go on hurting HERSELF.

What the hell had she started… how was she going to fix this?! And WHERE THE HELL WAS GILES?!

"Faith, stop it!" Buffy cried, raising her voice over the other girl's frantic noises yet again. "I'm not going to let you stand there and bang your head against the wall!"

Of course this made no impact on Faith's behavior; Buffy wasn't even sure if she had heard or understood her. Still twisting and straining against her, oddly high-pitched squawks of distress coming from her mouth in a continuous stream, Faith did not calm down, or even lessen her attempts to break free of Buffy's restraining arms.

"NO! No, B, NO! Let GO…let…NO, Faith BAD, Faith BAD! FAITH BAD, NO!" Faith shrieked, and Buffy was having to use all her strength to hold her now, to keep her locked in her arms where she could not escape her.

Faith was all wild emotion and unfocused urgency, and she was both taller and heavier than Buffy…but as Buffy's mind was more complex in its thinking and her limbs more fully under control, she was able to make better, concentrated use of her strength, whereas Faith was just flailing out frantically.

"Stop it, Faith…stop it! Calm down… I'm not letting you go, now calm down!" Buffy tried to tell her, but Faith would have none of it.

"Faith bad, Faith BAD! Let go- let GO! No, no, no!"

Buffy held onto her with a grim but suddenly intense determination, no longer trying to reason with her, but to simply endure, waiting for her to tire herself into giving up. Surely she'd have to eventually…she'd just come out of a coma, for god's sake, and she'd drank who knows how many beers. She found herself wondering if Faith was hurting her shoulder worse- even fixed up, and even though it had been a relatively minor cut, it couldn't be good for her to be constantly moving it around, abusing it in the way she had been.

God, when is Giles going to GET here?! What she needs, maybe, is a tranquilizer…well, I don't know, maybe the way she is now that's not such a good idea. It might knock her right back into a coma…

A she held Faith as firmly as she was able to under Faith's vigorous protests, she had one arm wrapped around Faith's waist, the other across her chest, so that she was holding her against her so that Faith's back was pressed into Buffy's front. Hanging onto her in such a manner, so that Faith's hair was flying into her face with each jerking of her head, and Buffy's breasts were pushed into Faith's back, Buffy no longer cared, or was even aware of, how matted her hair and how grimy her skin was, how stained and filthy her clothes. All she could think about, other than trying to keep Faith still, of course, was how close to her she was. She could feel the heat of her body against her own so vividly that she almost shuddered, could feel through Faith's back her shallow, too-rapid breathing, the racing of her heart…

Why she noticed or cared about any of this, Buffy didn't know…all she knew was that it made her chest ache, her stomach clinch, to observe it.

It seemed to be hours that she stood there, with Faith fighting fiercely to break her hold of her… in reality, was probably closer to three minutes, five at the very most. But gradually Faith's fighting started to weaken, her yells growing less frequent, less forceful in strength and volume. Then finally, as Buffy had been half praying for, as her muscles were starting to get cramped and tired from holding her, Faith stopped lashing out all together.

Her body went limp and almost weak in Buffy's arms, sagging back against her so heavily that Buffy stumbled, almost dropping her. Her head drooping forward, Faith let herself hang there with clear defeat, her posture so dejected that Buffy would have suspected a trick, had Faith not shown herself to be so devolved right then.

"Faith bad," Faith repeated in a tiny trembling voice, and she sounded more like a frightened toddler to Buffy then than ever. "Faith bad…B no like Faith, Faith bad…"

She started to cry, but it was not at all the way that Buffy would have expected_ Faith_ to cry…not that she would _ever_ have expected to hear or witness such a thing before today. It didn't sound like a teenager would sound while in tears, or how Buffy herself would…it sounded so completely weird to her that for a few moments Buffy was too shocked to even make any kind of sense of it. Faith's crying was loud and stormy, yet somehow despairing rather than demanding in the way of a child's or infant's might be. And yet somehow the tone if sounded like a very young child's…if that child's voice was crossed over with a hoarse rasping that again, for some reason made an image of Tarzan pop into Buffy's head.

Faith was still slumped back heavily in her arms, as if now completely unwilling to support her own weight. It didn't help that her entire torso was moving with her noisy crying, tears mingling with the grime on her face to make her look even dirtier now than before. She stayed leaned back into Buffy's miserably, crying so harshly and strangely that Buffy was afraid she would make herself either pass out or vomit.

Feeling worse for her than ever, guiltier than ever, however illogical this might be, she told herself hurriedly, Buffy turned Faith around so that she was facing her, looking her over. Faith didn't look up at her, continuing to hang her head as she sobbed in that weird, gruff/high-pitched manner unlike anything Buffy had ever heard before…

Acting instinctively- too, too weirdly instinctively was a thought that quickly flashed into Buffy's mind- she pulled Faith against her chest into a hug, trying to settle her so that her head was on her shoulder. Faith just let herself be manipulated with the passivity of a rag doll, not hugging her back, so Buffy put her arms around her slowly realizing suddenly just how compressed her chest, felt how tight her throat…

She put her mouth close to Faith's ear, where she would have to hear if not understand her, and spoke to her gently but firmly, still resting her hands on the brunette's shaking back.

"Faith…Faith not bad," she said quietly, trying to simplify her words so that Faith would understand them. "Faith sorry? Faith want to be good? Then B like…B…B forgive…"

And to her own shock, she was beginning to realize that this was true. Of course she had told herself before that she forgave Faith, that she would help her, if and when Faith awakened…but a part of her had held herself back, insisting that she didn't', that she shouldn't forgive her…and she hadn't wanted to. Not entirely…

But now, as she held the heavily sobbing girl in her arms, a girl who was different now than anything she had ever expected, that was all she wanted to do… all she could think to do. She felt no awkwardness or defenses anymore, not even a sense of strangeness at the whole screwy situation. She felt only a desire to comfort Faith, to calm and forgive her… and she didn't even care that before, she would have been alarmed by this, tried to change it.

Buffy rubbed a hand up and down Faith's back, feeling how knotted and tense the muscles were, and spoke to her again, her voice slightly husky with her new realization of her thoughts.

"Faith good. B forgive…okay? Don't…I mean, no cry…"

Faith seemed to have not heard not understood for another minute or two…or maybe it was that she didn't' believe her. But as Buffy continued to hold her, repeating her slightly awkward but sincere version of Faith's manner of speaking, Faith's sobs began to die down. She hugged Buffy back suddenly, her arms tightening around her so fiercely that Buffy gasped. As Faith pushed her face harder into Buffy's shoulder, Buffy could feel her hot shuddering breaths, her wet face against her robe. Buffy suddenly had to focus on calming her breathing as it flashed through her mind again that she was naked under her robe.

Eventually Faith's cries stopped but she stayed where she was not easing up on her hug or moving her face from Buffy's shoulder. Buffy heard her sniffing loudly against her robe, but somehow she wasn't grossed out by it; in fact, her heart squeezed slightly.

She pulled away from Faith slightly, gently prying her arms off of her, and smiled at her softly, giving her a quick squeeze. Faith looked so young and pathetic to her then, like an overly tired, miserable preschooler…but even if that was what she appeared like, Buffy knew that it went deeper than that. Faith's past mistakes were not those of a child, even if her mind seemed to be right now, and in some way or another, she was going to have to deal with it, face up to it and accept its consequences…even if, as it seemed, she wanted to change it would not be easy at all, for any of them.

But right now there was no point in thinking about that… right now they would have to take steps one at a time. Maybe when Giles got here…

Where WAS he?!

"Come on," Buffy told Faith softly, and she began to lead her back to sit down at the table. "Let's get you cleaned up a little…I mean…Faith dirty. Buffy clean…"

And why did she feel hot all over now, in spite of everything…why did she almost want to yank her hands off of Faith, because if she didn't she might-

Might what?

No…not going there…might nothing, NOTHING…

As Faith sat, and Buffy tore off a paper towel from the counter, going to wet it in the sink, she could feel the other girl's eyes on her. When Faith spoke her voice was still small, but almost wondering.

"Faith…Faith not bad? B…B like?"

The way she said it made Buffy's heart feel heavier and fuller than ever…not in an entirely unpleasant way. Making her way over to her, she crouched before her, looking her in the eyes as Faith frowned, seeming confused…

"No, Faith not bad," she told her simply. "Buffy like."

She began to wipe at Faith's face gently, trying to get up the combination of grime, blood from small scrapes, and tears, and smiling somewhat grimly when Faith made little whining noises and grimaced, trying to turn her face away. By the time she was finished, Buffy felt suddenly and heavily tired…and badly wanted to know what was taking Giles so long to get his ass over there.

When she sighed, rocking back on her heels to regard Faith, Faith looked down at her with a little frown seeming, concerned. Then she reached for the beer bottle that had been previously left on the table, still half full, and held it out to her almost timidly.

"B want beer?"

Buffy stared at the bottle in her hands, not knowing whether to scream, laugh, or cry…and then she grabbed the bottle. What the hell…she could definitely use a drink right now.

"Yeah," she replied, giving off a sharp little laugh and shaking her head. "Yeah, Faith, B want beer."

With that she took a long swallow, then another, shuddering slightly at the feeling of it going down her throat. She saw Faith grin, delighted, apparently, to be able to share with her, and Buffy drank again, hardly noticing about the taste this time. It couldn't help but improve her mood… and it wasn't like she'd get drunk off that little amount, right?

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Author note: Sorry so short and long in coming…real life interferes. I have more written just not posted yet.

Rupert Giles's mind was clouded with anxious irritability as he hurriedly stepped out of his car, having just pulled into Buffy's driveway. He couldn't see any overt signs of damage around it, such as broken windows, caved-in walls, or flames leaping from the rooftop…but he knew this meant nothing. The inside of the house could be an entirely different story…and perhaps Buffy had not even managed to contain Faith there at all…

He truly had intended to be no more than fifteen minutes in getting himself over to the Summers' house…he had simply wished to quickly review some of his books in an effort to familiarize himself with a couple of spells and enchantments, just in case Faith showed signs of them. He suspected from Buffy's description that Faith's malady was physical or mental rather than magical, but without seeing her for himself, he could not know that, of course.

He had been on his way out the door when his phone rang, and it was Xander on the other end, questioning him about what was going on and what he should do, whether he should go to Buffy too. No sooner had he ended the conversation then the phone rang again, this time with Cordelia on the other line. Having also been alerted by Willow to Faith's return, the girl had stressed out over the phone in a high-pitched, increasingly shrill tone that had made the vague beginnings of a headache tighten itself around Giles's temples.

When he had finally managed to head her off, hung up the phone, and started for the door for the third time, Giles's patience was greatly tried. But of course, the phone had rang again…a happening that had made him swear aloud, wondering furiously if there was some demonic force currently working against him…

The final caller was Willow, just calling to let him know that she had let the others know what was going on- very, very unnecessary information for him to be told. Rather more short with her than he usually was, Giles had ended the call as quickly as possible and rushed out the door, steeling himself to hear the phone's shrill call again. When he didn't, it gave him little satisfaction.

And then, on his way over, he had been stopped by a car accident, where a vehicle had swerved rather seriously off the road. What with the police and the other cars trying to get through, it had been some time before Giles had finally managing to get past it. He had heard the driver of the crashed car speaking in an indignant voice about 'two idiots' who had 'run out in the road like they never saw a car before'. Whatever had caused the accident, Giles could care less. All he knew was it was yet another obstacle placed in the path between him and reaching the Summers' house, and he was getting increasingly frustrated over it.

By now, anything could be happening, with Buffy the only one there with Faith… if Faith was behaving as oddly as Buffy said, then there really was not telling what she might be up to.

Buffy's descriptions of Faith's appearance and behavior greatly intrigued Giles, even as they worried him. If she was now mentally injured or damaged in some way, he was not at all sure what should be done with her. Clearly turning her over to the Council for rehabilitation, as he might have done had she behaved normally upon awakening, was not an option. If Faith was really so mentally regressed, and did not even remember her past doings, then how could they attempt to rehabilitate her for them? But then, what else could they do with her? They certainly could not attempt to keep her themselves… a person with a brain injury, particularly a Slayer, would need to be watched at all times, and that simply was not practical.

Giles worried to himself inside his head right up until the minute he pulled into the Summers' driveway and stepped out of his car. As he quickly made his way to the porch, ringing the doorbell, he found himself wanting to peer into the small peephole in an effort to look at what it now appeared like inside.

He waited a few moments, but no response was given. He heard no answering call, no feet running towards the door…nothing at all. Frowning slightly, his anxiety increasing, he rang the doorbell again, holding it down longer this time. Again, he received no response of any kind.

Buffy must be very busy with Faith somewhere, he told himself quickly, and she cannot come to the door. Surely she is all right, though…she can defend herself, of course. Of course she can…

He tried the doorknob, and finding the house to be unlocked, quickly stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. Glancing upstairs, then deciding to start towards the living room first, Giles began to head in that direction, calling out to Buffy.

"Buffy? Buffy, it's Giles, I am here now…where are you?"

He didn't receive a verbal answer…but just ahead of him in the kitchen, he thought he heard a weird grunting noise…and then, undeniably, a loud moan.

His back stiffening, eyes narrowing in sudden apprehension, Giles began to speed up his movements towards the kitchen. Clearly something was wrong…perhaps someone was hurt, so badly that they could not speak in reply to him. Probably that person was Buffy…for if it wasn't, then surely she would have answered him…

As he entered through the kitchen door, he immediately recognized Faith by the back of her head, even as matted as it was. She was facing away from him, seeming unaware of his entrance…and before her, pressed up extremely close to her, was Buffy.

Buffy was backed up against the cabinets, and it appeared to Giles as though Faith were keeping her there by force, physically restraining her. She had her arms wrapped around Buffy in what Giles at first thought was a threatening, dominating pinning…and her head was tilted in such a way toward Buffy's neck that Giles at first thought she intended to bite her, rip her throat open…

Oh dear Lord, he thought rapidly as he rushed toward the girls, intending to rip Faith away from Buffy and what he saw as a dangerous, even life-threatening situation. Is she a vampire? How has this happened-

But a split second before he reached out to seize Faith, he skidded to a stop, blinking and staring in stunned realization. For Faith was not pinning Buffy, as he had originally thought, but rather embracing her, rubbing her hands up and down her back. And she was not biting Buffy's throat, but rather kissing it…

And the strangest part about all this… much, much stranger than what Faith was up to, which was strange enough all on its own…was that Buffy was not reacting as if it WERE strange or undesirable. She was not shrieking or reacting in shock, not flinching or shoving Faith away. In fact, she was arching her neck, her eyes closed… and with a horrible sick feeling beginning to twist in his stomach, Giles was suddenly sure he knew just which girl he had heard moaning…and he had a good suspicion of why.

Giles stood there, too utterly shocked to move, to do or say something to alert the girls to his presence…for they were way too caught up in each other to notice him. He could feel his face heating up furiously, all rational, collected thought leaving his head…and yet as fervently as he wanted to, he could not make himself look away.

This quickly changed when he witnessed Buffy's hand fumble around Faith to give her ass a nice, generous squeeze, and when he saw Faith's hands slip from Buffy's back to the front of her robe, starting to undo it with an odd inexperienced manner…that was altogether too much for im to handle. Flushing even more furiously, his mouth dropping open, he began to sputter at them in flabbergasted protest.

"BUFFY?! What the bloody hell are you doing?!"

Finally the girls seemed to hear him; they turned slowly, still pressed close to each other, Buffy's hand still on Faith's ass. And as for Faith's hand…it was still on the knot of Buffy's robe, tugging at it inefficiently, but with a persistence that terrified Giles would soon be rendered successful.

Buffy looked up at Giles then, tilting her head to one side in an innocent, almost childlike manner, and grinned broadly, her eyes wide, and strangely, startlingly clear, even glowing.

"Hi Giles!" she said brightly, and she pressed herself closer against Faith's side, nuzzling her head against her chin almost in the manner of an animal trying to get another animal's attention in a playful manner.

And that was all. No jumping or blushing, no stammering attempts to explain or looks of horror…just "Hi Giles!" as if what she were doing…what Giles had CAUGHT her doing…was a normal, every day occurrence. As if letting a possibly brain damaged, once-insane, twice-made-murderer fellow Slayer hug her and kiss her neck was not only not completely insane in and of itself, but was perfectly understandable…even desirable…

"Buffy," Giles sputtered again, still goggling at them as he blinked rapidly, his hands itching with his desire to take off his glasses and polish them furiously…as much so he wouldn't have to look at them and accept the reality of what he saw as out of a habit done when uncomfortable. "Buffy, what IS going on?! Good heavens- you were- Faith was-"

"Faith horny!" Buffy explained, still smiling in a sunny manner that reminded Giles of a pleased two-year-old. "Buffy help!"

She hugged Faith tighter against her, rubbing the top of her head against Faith's chin, cheeks, and jaw. Faith had been staring at Giles with her mouth slightly open, her eyes darkening with something that looked like apprehension, even fear, to Giles's startled eyes. As Buffy increased her affectionate physical contact with her, however, Faith seemed to relax slightly, her posture noticeably loosening up, and she hugged Buffy back tightly, making an odd noise low in her throat. It sounded partly like a growl, partly like a purr. Giles stood there, staring at them in horrified incredulity, still unable, even with a second viewing, to reconcile himself to the fact that what he was seeing was indeed reality.

This view hurriedly was dashed when he next witnessed Buffy beginning to turn her attention to Faith's neck, leaving a trail of saliva with her sloppy, if passionate, kissing. Giles made a noise of strangled horror, his eyes bulging.

"BUFFY! STOP THAT AT ONCE! What has gotten INTO you?!" he yelled, as he half turned away in extreme discomfort…and no small amount of worry. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew it wasn't natural…and it wasn't the fact that they were both females that bothered him.

Buffy looked up again, still grinning, as if she didn't hear, or maybe didn't understand, his tone of voice.

"Faith," she replied cheerfully. "Faith's fingers into me. Faith's tongue into me…"

Her voice sounded different to Giles…it had a deeper quality to it, sounding hoarse, almost grating…like an exaggerated version of Faith's usual voice…a more primitive version. And the way she was speaking, her grammar…it sounded to him almost like she were speaking in the way that she had described Faith as speaking in over the phone…and the way she was behaving…

As this thought dawned on him, Giles barely noticed that Buffy was beginning to kiss Faith's neck again, that Faith was letting her eagerly. His mind was whirring as he stared not at them, but to the side of them, only seeing his own line of thought.

Buffy was acting strangely, behaving decidedly out of character…in the same manner that Faith was. For hadn't she described over the phone, to both their discomfort, that Faith had seemed unduly fascinated with her in more than a platonic manner? And here she was now, behaving in the same way, speaking in the same way, and not even seeming to realize that change had occurred…

Could brain damage or mental problems be somehow made contagious? Giles had never heard of such a thing- but maybe- it certainly could not be ruled out entirely out of the realm of possibility, not in Sunnydale. But then, perhaps it WAS a spell of some kind…perhaps it had affected Faith first, and she had either spread it to Buffy or else whatever had done the spell had come back. The question was, what had-

"BUFFY!" Giles roared, snapping back to full attention as his Slayer's hands went to Faith's shirt hem, attempting to pull it over her head but having trouble with it. "Do NOT do that, I BEG of you! STOP!"

Good lord, he thought shakily, his hand going to massage his temples as he shook his head in disbelief. This is NOT Buffy…it simply isn't, that cinches it. I wonder if demonic possession is a possibility here…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Both girls had looked up when Giles yelled, startled. Buffy looked simply puzzled, a little hurt, frowning slightly…but Faith looked alarmed, upset. She pressed herself more tightly against Buffy, her dark eyes shining anxiously as she glanced at Giles in such a way that Giles was astonished to realize that she seemed to be afraid of him.

"Giles mad," she said in a small voice, looking away from him quickly as she half hid her face from his view against Buffy's shoulder. "Giles not like Faith. Giles think Faith bad…Faith bad, Giles not like…"

Listening to the dark Slayer speak in such a manner, in grammar as much as tone and actual words, was unbelievable enough…how could this frightened, childlike girl be the same vicious, scheming Slayer who had plotted the destruction of the world? But even stranger was that she seemed to be genuine…and Buffy's reaction to her.

Buffy hugged Faith even closer against her, running a hand over her extremely matted hair with a tenderness that was obviously genuine. Giles blinked with continued disbelief as she spoke to her in a tone that was very soft and gentle, almost crooning, and she continued to caress her hair.

"It okay, Faith okay…Faith good, Faith not bad. Faith good. Buffy like. Buffy tell Giles…Buffy like Faith."

She pulled away from Faith slightly, smiling into her eyes, and put up a hand to trace her lips, pulling them down a little. "Buffy like Faith a lot…"

She began to tug at Faith's shirt again, trying to take it off without much of Faith's cooperation. All she managed to do was make Faith flash Giles, much to his humiliated frustration.

"BUFFY! Stop that at once! Oh good Lord, how is this happening?" he groaned, giving into his impulse to take off his glasses and polishing them vigorously. "WHY is this happening- this is simply unbelievable-"

"Faith good," Buffy said, frowning at Giles in seemingly puzzled confusion as she tilted her head to one side, one hand still stuck under Faith's shirt in a manner that rattled him considerably. "Faith good, Faith sorry…"

She nuzzled her head against Faith's cheek once more in a way that was clearly intended to be tender, but just looked rough and jerky to Giles's eyes. Faith, however, did not seem to feel the same; she made that strange grunt/purr sound he had heard before, throwing her head back as if to give Buffy free access to her neck as her hands fumbled around to Buffy's butt. Buffy rubbed her nose against Faith's neck, then the entire side of her face. Giles couldn't decide if she were smelling her, or simply delighting herself with the feel of Faith's skin.

"Faith pretty," Buffy said in a loud whisper that was actually even louder than if she had not bothered to attempt to keep her voice down. "Faith nice, Faith soft. Faith feel good…Buffy like…"

"For the love of God, stop this already!" Giles burst out with as Faith stuck a hand down the back of Buffy's pants, and as Buffy, eyes widening, made a moan that sent thrills of revulsion down his spine, began to lick Faith's neck.

"I don't know WHAT has come over you, I don't know what is WRONG with you both- but STOP it!"

His anger and frustration, coupled with repulsion, made him impulsive, and Giles hurried over to them, pulling Buffy's head forcefully away from Faith. This done, he then pulled the rest of her away as well, keeping hold of her shoulders and taking her a few feet safely away from Faith. If he had been thinking beyond his extreme discomfort he might have realized that this might not have potentially been the best idea. What if they had got angry and fought back- he woud certainly have been no match for them…

But Faith had let him extract Buffy from her, even letting go herself to allow him to take her as she stared at him with clearly intimidated eyes, biting her lower lip. Giles barely had time to think in astonishment that she really did seem to 'good,' as Buffy had put it, perhaps even ashamed, from the submissive way she was behaving with him. But then, Buffy had said earlier she didn't seem to remember her past deeds…maybe she simply didn't remember who Giles was and for some reason was intimidated- perhaps because of his tone, or maybe simply because he was a male. Although seeing as this was Faith they were talking about, that hardly made sense.

Buffy, on the other hand, as hardly surprising, was NOT behaving submissively. She wasn't all out fighting him, and thank God for that, but she was pushing at his hands, whining and giving him a pout he was all too familiar with.

"Giles, NO! Faith good- Buffy want Faith! No take Buffy- Buffy want Faith!"

"WHY do you want her?" Giles asked in exasperation, still standing safely in between them and keeping firm hands on Buffy's shoulders. He wasn't sure how long he could actually hold her back before she put some strength into trying to get away, but he was definitely going to keep it up for as long as he could. How was he supposed to come up with any theories as to what was going on when all they wanted to do was go at each other like rabbits in heat?!

"Why is it that you suddenly have such an- er- interest in Faith, Buffy, and she does in you? Why are you speaking and behaving in this manner?" he went on, not really expecting a coherent and satisfactory response, but asking all the same.

"Faith good," Buffy growled, giving him a resentful glare and crossing her arms across her chest defiantly; Faith, on the other hand, hung back, her head lowered slightly so her tangled hair hid half her face. Giles could tell that she was looking over at them often though.

"Faith GOOD, Giles. Faith pretty. Buffy WANT-"

"Yes, yes Buffy, so I have heard," Giles said hurriedly, feeling the tension at his temples intensify and suppressing equally strong urges to beat his head against the wall, clean his glasses, and shake Buffy until she was restored of her senses. "But this is not…something has changed in the past 45 minutes. Something must have happened to change you since we spoke on the phone…and since you are now behaving in the same way that Faith is, it must be the same thing that changed Faith. Which means that it cannot be brain damage, at least not traumatic injury from her coma, or else you would not have it too…"

He stopped when he realized that both girls were staring at him, their brows heavily lined in confusion. Obviously they didn't understand what he was saying…whether it was the concept, or that he had used too many words at once, he wasn't sure.

He decided to try again to get his theory across, in simpler words. "Buffy. What did you do after you spoke with me on the phone?"

Buffy's wide grin returned, and she aimed it first at him, then Faith in a way that should have warned him.

"Touch Faith. Kiss Faith. Faith touch Buffy. Faith kiss Buffy-"

"YES, I am well aware of that!" Giles cut her off hurriedly, his face reddening; all he wanted then was a nice Scotch…or possibly a noose.

Taking a deep breath, he tried again, lowering his voice.

"Please relay…er…I mean tell- me what happened FIRST, after you hung up the phone. Then what happened after that…then after that…do you understand what I mean this time, Buffy?"

Buffy blinked up at him, still frowning slightly; after a little bit her eyes cleared, and she spoke, a clearly resentful overtone to her voice and expression from being kept away from touching Faith.

"Faith touch Buffy. Buffy mean. Buffy yell. Buffy bad, Faith cry…Buffy sorry," she relayed, and she twisted her head to look at Faith, her face and tone softening, showing her sincerity. "Buffy sorry," she said just to Faith, and Faith nodded, her expression softening too.

"Faith sorry. Faith not bad now, Faith want good," Faith said back to her softly, and she lifted her eyes to Giles's somewhat timidly, her shoulders rounding slightly. "Giles, Faith sorry…Faith sorry Faith bad," she addressed him now in a small voice, and looking at her, even knowing that she was not exactly in her normal state, and trying to make sense of what had been said to him so far, Giles knew she was sincere.

Meeting Faith's eyes, realizing as he did so that there was a nakedness to them, an open vulnerability and worry that he had never seen so clearly in them before, Giles couldn't help but soften slightly. Even if this was temporary remorse on her, and even though she had been horrifying him with her blatantly sexual actions in the past fifteen minutes, he could not respond to her sarcastically or rudely after seeing the pained regret, even fear, in her eyes.

"Yes, I can see that, Faith," he replied more softly, giving her a slow nod. "It's far from a simple matter, of course, but I am pleased that you are willing to take the first step towards making things right…"

He trailed off, then cleared his throat, changing the subject quickly.

"So, so after you two…apologized…then what happened?"

Buffy frowned, seeming to be thinking about it; it was a little while before her eyes widened, and she smiled brightly again.

"Faith give Buffy beer! Good beer…beer gone!" she said, and she pulled away from Giles, going to retrieve the empty bottle from the table and shaking it in his face. "Gone! Want more!"

Giles stared from her to the bottle in her hand…as his eyes drifted to regard Faith, then rapidly shifted back to Buffy and the beer bottle in her hand, a new idea began to dawn on him.

Buffy had said on the phone that Faith had been drinking. Apparently she had drank from the same bottle that Faith had…and now she was behaving, afterward, in the same bizarre manner that Faith was…

Certainly the two events appeared to be connected. Was it possible that Faith did not have a brain injury after all…was it possible that whatever was causing her odd behaviors was resulting only from the beer she had drank, the beer she had passed on to Buffy? Could it be an enchantment of some kind…or perhaps a potion?

He took the beer from Buffy's outstretched hand and began to examine it closely, looking at the label and reading it, sniffing it. It seemed ordinary enough…but surely…

"Want beer!" Buffy demanded, seeming most displeased when Giles simply took the bottle and made no move to refill it. "Beer good! Buffy want!"

"Faith want too!" Faith chimed in, not to be outdone. Seeming to at least temporarily have gotten over her reluctance to come near Giles, she came to stand next to Buffy, who was eyeing him resentfully, still pouting. "Faith want beer!"

"I don't have any beer!" Giles replied shortly, even as he thought to himself darkly that it was certainly a bleeding shame that there was none left in the damn bottle. Enchanted or not, he could certainly use some…

"Buffy want!" Buffy repeated louder, more demanding, and she hit herself on the chest hard for emphasis, scowling fiercely. "Buffy want beer!"

Giles was beginning to grow distinctly nervous- in her primitive state, was it conceivable that Buffy might actually hurt him, whether inadvertently or deliberately? He was trying to think of an appropriate response, a way to stall, when he was saved by the phone ringing. Exhaling in extreme gratitude, he backed away from the Slayers clustered near him, picking up the kitchen extension hurriedly.

"Hello?" he said, and the frazzled strain mingled with relief was evident in his voice.

"Giles?" came Willow's voice in a rush on the other line. "Oh good, you're there…look, something very strange is going on, it's more than just Faith…is she still there? She hasn't' hurt anyone, has she…is Buffy okay?"

"Buffy is uninjured," Giles replied tightly. "Faith is still here, yes, and she certainly has no wish to harm Buffy. But as far as whether Buffy is okay, I suppose that would depend upon your definition of the word."

"She isn't hurt? Good," Willow said quickly, sighing in relief; she didn't' seem to have heard the rest of what he said. "I was afraid she might have…well, I don't know, tried to kill her like usual. But never mind, if everyone's okay-"

"Willow, I'm very busy here," Giles cut her off with as he glanced back at Buffy and Faith frequently.

They had, without him standing in between them, seemed to have rediscovered the joys of physical contact with each other. Currently they were caressing each other with awkward roughness, Buffy running her hands through Faith's hair jerkily, and Faith was stroking Buffy's thigh overtop her robe…and then it was inside the robe…

Giles jerked his eyes away in a hurry, clutching the phone so tightly his fingers popped. I did NOT see that, I will NOT think about it, he told himself intently, his head pounding, entire body tensing, face going crimson with humiliation. At least they're not killing each other, even if they ARE killing me…at least they're staying put, and not asking me for more bloody beer-

"Hi Willow!" Buffy said brightly upon hearing Giles speak her name, her fingers still entangled in Faith's hair, one hand up her shirt. "Want beer! Willow give beer?"

"Hi Red," Faith echoed, though her voice was not quite as enthusiastic. In fact, it sounded almost as subdued as it had when she first addressed Giles. "Hear Faith? Faith sorry Faith bad…Faith sorry," she said in a small voice, and Buffy hugged her, having to extract her hand from underneath her shirt to do so.

"Faith not bad…Faith good now. Hear, Willow? Faith good!" she called out loudly.

On the other line, Willow made a startled, sputtering noise, echoing on a much lesser scale what Giles had been feeling constantly for the past half hour.

"Is that BUFFY?" she said incredulously, her voice going slightly shrill. "Is she like that too now- like FAITH?!"

"Yes," Giles said shortly. "She is. I'm not quite sure how she got like this, but I can assure you that the time I've been with her and Faith has been most-"

"Well I think I know," Willow interrupted. "That beer Faith had with her, when I saw her- did she take it to Buffy's house? And did Buffy drink any?"

"Why, yes," Giles replied, somewhat startled. "How did you know?"

"Giles, they're not the only ones," Willow said in a rush, the anxiety in her voice obvious. "They've been running everywhere, all kinds of people, acting like Buffy and Faith are. On the streets, crashing cars…it's like everyone turned into, into cave people or something!"

Giles took this in with no small amount of astonishment as his mind whirred, trying to think of what could possibly be happening to explain this. Out the corner of his eye he could see Buffy and Faith's groping resuming, heard Buffy giggle in a weird, oddly rasping manner, and he hurriedly turned his face away, holding the phone even more tightly to his ear.

"There are others, you say? Then this definitely must have magical or mystical connotations-"

"That's not all, Giles," Willow interrupted again, and her voice sounded more anxious than ever. "I think it's the beer…see, I was going back toward where I saw Faith with Oz, and I realized it. Just a few blocks away there was a bar, today is it's grand opening…"

She paused, seeming to be taking a breath to prepare herself for his reaction, and then plunged ahead.

"It's…it's called Rayne's. As in Ethan…"

Already tensed considerably, Giles felt himself stiffen even further, his jaw clinching. A coldness swept over him then, a steely focused anger and determination, and he nodded, his mind clearing quickly. This, of course, explained everything…this gave him direction, something to work with.

"Where is this bar?" he asked the redhead coolly; he was unaware now of Buffy and Faith across the room from him, kissing each other sloppily but more than enthusiastically, their hands roaming rapidly.

"Giles…are you going there? Alone? But what about Buffy…and, and Faith? You're not going to take them, are you? But you can't leave them either-"

"I'm quite sure they'll find a way to occupy themselves," Giles said tightly. "And as long as it's not in a manner using violence on anyone…"

That said, he waited for Willow's instructions, then hung up immediately. Without speaking to the girls beyond telling them curtly to stay up, that he would be back, he was out the door.

Buffy and Faith looked up as he exited the room, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Giles gone," Faith said in surprise, and Buffy nodded.

"Yeah…gone…"

She teasingly stroked the skin of Faith's stomach under her shirt, obviously intending to spark a reaction, but Faith just stood there, growing upset, her eyes darkening with hurt.

"Faith make Giles go," she said in a small voice, biting her lip as she loosened her hold on Buffy, suddenly seeming close to tears again. "Faith bad, Giles mad. Faith make Giles go…"

"NO! No, Faith not bad!" Buffy exclaimed, her eyes widening earnestly, and she hugged Faith hard, kissing her eyes, as if trying to remove their emotionally bruised appearance. "Faith not make Giles leave…"

"Then why? Why Giles leave?" Faith challenged, her voice rising with a desperate tone to it. "Why leave if Faith not bad?"

"Faith not bad," Buffy murmured, running fingers a little roughly through Faith's hair and giving her a wet kiss on the forehead. "Faith not make Giles leave…Giles leave…"

She frowned deeply, thinking, and then smiled widely, giving a little bounce of excited enlightenment.

"Giles leave get beer! Giles come bring beer! Beer for Buffy and Faith!"

Faith sniffled a little; she had not quite been crying but was close to it, and she wiped her nose against the back of her wrist.

"Giles get beer?" she said hopefully, looking at Buffy more calmly. "Giles not mad?"

"No! Not mad!" Buffy assured her excitedly, giving her another fierce squeeze and sloppy kiss, this time on her lips. "Giles bring beer! Beer for Buffy! Beer for Faith!"

Faith sniffled again, seeming to be thinking about it hard, slowly letting go of her doubts, and then she smiled.

"Faith want beer."

"Buffy want beer too," Buffy told her, and then, in a lower, sexier tone, "Buffy want Faith…"

She began to kiss Faith again, using a lot of tongue, licking almost as much as moving her lips against the other girl's. Faith kissed her back all too willingly, moaning into her mouth. Excited at the feel of it, Buffy moaned back, almost as much in imitation as because she was turned on.

The girls began to slide down toward the kitchen floor, touching each other rapidly with eager, fumbling hands, kissing and rubbing against every part they could reach. It looked, to any outsider who might have watched, like a cross between how two cats and two gorillas might mate…

Persistence undid Buffy's robe tie at last…Faith's clothes, with their zippers, buttons, and sleeves, took longer. But soon she too joined Buffy in her nudity on the floor. Panting heavily, the girls reached eagerly for each other…

To be continued


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Joyce Summers was in a very good mood as she pulled into her driveway in her car; in fact, as she stepped out onto the concrete walkway, she was even whistling. Today had been a very good day at the gallery- several paintings had been sold, and it had put her into a very cheery state of mind.

I wonder if Buffy's in tonight, she thought to herself with a smile as she approached the front door. She's probably not right now, anyway…she's probably on patrol, or else out with her friends. But if she is home, or if she gets home relatively early tonight, maybe we could go out to eat together. Just the two of us…that would be nice…

She came into the living room and set down her purse and briefcase, noticing as she did that the light was on in the kitchen. Wondering to herself whether Buffy was in there, or had just left the lights on again like Joyce had warned her not to do countless times if she wasn't in the room, Joyce went to stand in the kitchen entrance…

As soon as she saw what was inside the kitchen…or rather, who was inside the kitchen- Joyce went rigid with shock and pure, horrified astonishment. Her mouth dropped, her eyes bulged, and her face paled in a purely clichéd, but entirely genuine display of flabbergasted unbelief at what she was seeing, and she couldn't stop herself from gasping loudly, drawing in a sharp breath.

No, this cannot be real, Joyce told herself shakily, standing frozen in the doorway, one white-knuckled hand tight around the door frame. If I just close my eyes, for just a few moments, then I'll see that it's not real…though god knows WHY I'd imagine such a thing, I certainly didn't WANT to. I KNOW I certainly didn't' intend to, or want to, or-

Taking a deep breath, Joyce closed her eyes for several moments, giving herself time to slow down her suddenly sputtering heartbeat, to clear every clearly- hopefully- delusional thought form her head. But when she opened her eyes again, her stomach clinched tightly- for it was still there. That was still her daughter- that was still Buffy- lying naked on her kitchen floor- naked, and entangled closely with an also-very-naked Faith…

The two Slayers were lying in the floor in front of the kitchen sink, a mess of clothing scattered about them as if they had shucked them off at high speed. Joyce's eyes didn't fail to notice that there was only one pair of pants and one shirt, both filthy and mud-stained, only one bra and one pair of panties…and a bathrobe. Buffy's bathrobe. None of this made any sense to her whatsoever, but then, the clothes themselves were not her main concern, so much as the lack of clothing on her daughter and Faith…

The girls were obviously fast asleep, their chests rising and falling evenly, slowly; Buffy was even snoring slightly in soft, breathy little bursts. But as Joyce gawked at them, blinking rapidly, unable to bring herself yet to acknowledge the reality of the situation enough to look away again, the girls did not stir, but rather slept on in seeming contentment, as if the position she had found them in was the most natural in the world.

Besides being entirely naked, which was more than shocking enough for her- AND a naked Buffy, WITH a naked Faith- AND being a naked Buffy with a naked Faith, on HER kitchen floor- there was also the matter of HOW they were sleeping naked on her kitchen floor. They were rolled so that they were facing each other, arms wound tightly around each other, Buffy's leg slung over Faith's. Buffy's face was against Faith's neck, Faith's forehead resting heavily against Buffy's shoulder…and both seemed entirely, fully comfortable with this. Joyce could not see her daughter's face, as it was hidden in Faith's neck, but she could see part of Faith's. The brunette Slayer's features were entirely relaxed in sleep, open and peaceful in a way Joyce had never seen her look awake…

Joyce shook her head abruptly, as if to deny what she was seeing, then shook it harder, her features drawing together tightly, lips pressing together into a firm line. Even as she tried to look away, to make herself back up, her eyes kept darting back in a sort of car-accident-observer manner to stare at her daughter, at the Rogue Slayer in her arms. She took in this time the scratches on Faith's face and limbs, the bruising marring Buffy's jaw, as she tried to pull her thoughts into some coherent order.

How…how did this happen…how is this…my daughter…naked…my daughter, naked…engaging in god knows what naked acts…in my kitchen…on my kitchen floor…with FAITH…

Joyce took several more deep breaths, realizing dimly that she was edging toward hysteria and trying again to focus on logical thoughts, logical reasons and explanations for this occurrence. But clearly there were none.

I thought Faith was in a coma…I thought she had gone to the other side of things, the evil side…she's not in a coma now, is she? Buffy wouldn't have taken her here from the hospital, stripped, stripped Faith, and lay down to sleep with her if she were still in a coma…but then, why in the world would she do that if Faith weren't in a coma?!

Is Buffy evil now? Is my daughter evil? Or is Faith good? Obviously Buffy likes her now…or likes to sleep naked with her…is she gay? Is Buffy gay? How could I not know that my daughter was gay? Is she gay with Faith? Well clearly if she was straight with Faith she wouldn't be sleeping naked with her on my kitchen floor…that's not something that you do as a straight girl with a straight friend. Unless this generation is different…but if it's THAT different, then I must be a lot older than I thought…

Has Buffy always been gay? Have she and Faith always done this? How many times have I walked barefoot on these floors after they-

Oh god, why couldn't' she have just gone to her room and locked the door like a normal kid?!

Just then, her eyes fell upon the empty beer bottle sitting on the kitchen table, and understanding- or at least the beginning of what she thought to be understanding- came over Joyce rapidly. The scrapes and bruises, Faith's alarmingly tangled hair, the nudity, and sleeping in one of the most conspicuous places possible in their home…they had gotten drunk. Faith must have awakened from her coma, found Buffy, and somehow- this part was still a mystery to Joyce- somehow, after having exchanged blows, they had ended up getting drunk together…which had clearly led up to THIS…

Suddenly Joyce could barely contain herself from releasing a loud, hysterical burst of laughter. It wasn't that she found this funny- in fact, she didn't' find it at ALL funny, she told herself sternly, even as her lips twitched and her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. It was just that this was so ridiculous…so utterly, insanely…INSANE…

She began to back away quietly, trying not to make any noise that would awaken them. All she could think to do was pretend it had never happened, that she had never seen it. They could deal with it- THAT- whatever it had been- when they woke up. Joyce certainly wasn't going to deal with it…in fact, she was going to forget it, right now.

As soon as they're up and dressed, she thought fervently, I'm going to have to wash every inch of those floors…scrub, disinfect, sweep, mop…the strongest stuff I have. And I am DEFINITELY going to go out tonight, right now- but Buffy is NOT invited any longer…

God knows…tomorrow morning, those girls are going to have one hell of a hangover…

Author notes: I'm debating over ending it there or having one more scene. Input?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Buffy awakened very slowly, gradually; at first she was aware only of the strange, dull pounding at her temples, as if her veins were pushing lightly against her skull with each heartbeat. Gradually she began to feel other sensations sinking in as well… the dry, pasty taste in her mouth, the heavy, slightly cramped feeling of her limbs, the stiffness of her neck…

But even weirder, she felt oddly cold in some parts of her, as if she were lying on some cool, hard surface with no blanket…but some parts of her felt warm, almost too toastily so. As more awareness gradually began to seep into her, she realized that she WAS lying on something hard and cold, partially, but she was also on something soft, something warm and soft, yet firm. IT felt like a person… like…

Oh my god…oh my god ohmigod ohmigod…

Buffy's eyes snapped open in a hurry then, and she saw all too quickly that her sudden, wild thought was true. Yes, she was naked…yes, she was lying on her kitchen floor, for anyone who might come by to see… and yes, she was lying naked on her kitchen floor with Faith, who was also naked…and who was also currently cuddled up to her way, way closer than she should be…

Oh my god, Buffy thought in extreme shock, her body tensing up quickly and automatically, going cold in spite of the close contact with Faith's heated skin. Oh my god, no, no, no, no, no…

She could hear her breath starting to come in short, breathy little gasps, her chest moving shallowly, her stomach tightening with pained, anxious horror as her memories returned to her, rapid in all their humiliating, unbelievable glory. She remembered drinking the beer, the feeling that had quickly swept over her within minutes, as if every inner restraint, every social value and concern, every inhibition and self-imposed restriction, had been lifted. She remembered the way she had had felt about Faith, the lust, the protective caring and desire to display it to her…and oh god, she remembered what they had done together. The way they had spoken to each other, te way they had kissed and touched each other…and oh god, she was still doing it, she was intertwined with Faith, and they were both completely NAKED…

Oh no, oh no, no, no, NO, Buffy thought frantically as her heart kicked its pace up another notch, knocking frantically against her ribs. She was all too aware of Faith's chest- Faith's breasts- against hers, Faith's head on her shoulder, her hair in her arm and cheek, her breath against her neck in a way that made Buffy shudder in a manner that she could not quite convince herself was entirely from horror. Faith's legs were under hers too, and Buffy was terrified to move them, lest the other Slayer awaken and thus prove to her that this was only a dream…

But no…Faith slept on, her arms locked tightly around Buffy's naked back, and Buffy could not deny that she was indeed there, that all memories had not in fact been hallucinations or delusions.

Oh god, oh god… I kissed a girl…I kissed a girl, and I liked it… I kissed a girl, and a girl kissed me…and it was FAITH! I kissed a girl, and it was Faith, and I liked it… oh my god…

What the hell are you worrying about _kissing_ for, Buffy?! That is the least of your worries…don't forget, you also GROPED a girl…you groped FAITH! You LICKED Faith, and you SUCKED ON Faith, and you let her do the same to you, and you didn't try to stop her…in fact, you TOLD her to do it. You had sex with her…you had sex with a girl, right here, you had sex with FAITH…and you both naked NOW…

Oh god…oh shit, oh shit…

And don't forget… Giles saw you doing it…well, not _doing_ it doing it, but he saw you touching Faith, and kissing Faith, and Faith touching and kissing you…

Oh my god… oh my god… my life is over. My life has turned into a porn show…and I am an all-too-willing star…oh god! I'm going to have to change my name from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, to Buffy, the Vamp Girl Layer…or Buffy, the Vamp Girl, Gayer…

Am I gay?! Does this make me gay?! Well I can't be straight anymore- you can't be straight and have sex with girls- that just doesn't happen. It doesn't, it just…oh god, I'm GAY?! And I'm gay with FAITH, of all people?!

No…no, of course not, she tried to tell herself, even as she kept her body stiff and rigid against the other girl's. You're not gay…you don't like Faith, not like that, anyway... didn't you try to push her away earlier when she was being all Octopus Hands? Of course you did! This is just a mistake… it was the beer. You were drunk. You were drunk, and Faith was drunk, and when people are drunk bad things happen. That's why you don't get drunk, because it's a bad, bad thing! Very, very bad! But nobody means it, and it doesn't mean anything, because you were drunk-

But you really didn't drink all that much, Buffy…and you never acted like that before when you were drunk…and Faith never did before either…

Well maybe there was something in the beer! Maybe it made me- made us- act like that…maybe…it wasn't us, not way was it US! It was the beer. It HAD to be the beer…we didn't mean it…

But she HAD meant it… Buffy had meant every word she said, had enjoyed, even luxuriated, in every touch Faith had given her, every touch she gave Faith. And really…even before the beer… hadn't she already felt it? Even if she told herself she didn't… even if she denied it…hadn't she felt it, hadn't a part of her wanted it? When Faith had kept trying to touch her, hadn't some part of her wanted her to continue…and wasn't that partly why she had panicked? When Faith had cried, and Buffy had hugged her, hadn't she gotten some kind of rush off that… something beyond sympathy, beyond affection…

And right now… wasn't a part of her wishing Faith wouldn't wake up…wasn't a part of her hoping that she could just stay exactly where she was, and never have to-

NO! She told herself in horror, NO, that is NOT true, you are NOT thinking that! It was the beer…you are NOT, NOT gay, you do NOT like Faith like that!

But are you sure? What about even further back, back when she first came to Sunnydale, the first time you ever saw her… didn't you just want to-

NO! NO, I did NOT!

Buffy rolled away from Faith then hurriedly, not bothering to be careful about it in her haste as she stood up, scrambling to put on her robe… but it was too late, she could already hear Faith waking as well.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Giles found the place easily enough; it was right there in the open, right in the middle of the main street, the name 'Rayne's' displayed boldly and prominently across the very large, grand opening sign. It was as if Ethan did not care if or how quickly he was found out… probably the truth was that he knew he would be and wanted it, for whatever twisted reasons of his own. If it would cause chaos and inconvenience and infuriate his former friend, then of course, that would be extremely reinforcing for him.

Giles stormed through the front door, throwing it open with a heavy toss that caused it to bang into the opposite wall with a clatter. He strode forward purposefully, his eyes glinting with a steely fury behind his glasses as he ignored the few drinking customers, the several who had already devolved into a state similar to Buffy's and Faith's and were grunting at each other in similar excited manners. He had his eyes fixed on Ethan's form behind the bar. His former friend's back was to him, but from the position of his back, Giles knew that he was aware of his approaching presence.

Pushing his way past a devolved young man who was heading towards the bar in a loping manner, Giles went around to the other side of the bar rapidly. Seizing Ethan by the throat swiftly, he shoved the man back against the counter with one forceful gesture, holding him there roughly. Ethan's eyes showed no surprise or fear; if anything, they showed an almost smug spark of amusement.

"Hello, Ripper," he said casually, smoothly, and this only further aggravated Giles. His hand tightened slightly around the other man's neck, and he addressed him harshly with taut fury hardening his tone.

"What have you done, Ethan?" Giles asked him, and Ethan smiled arrogantly, his eyes moving lazily from side to side in indication of such.

"I should think that by now you would have been able to observe for yourself, Ripper…"

His jaw clinching, Giles spoke through gritted teeth, putting his face close in a threatening manner to Ethan's as he stared him directly in the eye.

"Oh, I certainly do see, Ethan… I won't even approach the fact that you sold alcohol to a minor who couldn't possibly have even been carrying a fake ID on her, seeing as she's been in a coma for the past two months. And god knows how many others you sold to who DID have one… no, all I am here for is to rectify the bloody stupid thing that you have done, and you are going to start off telling me WHAT the BLOODY HELL it is that you have done!?"

Ethan did not seem at all intimidated by this; if anything, his slightly cynical smile widened slightly, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, as you can clearly see what it is that I have done… I assume your real question is why it is that I did it. As for that…" he lifted one shoulder indolently, even as his eyes gleamed. "I thought it would be amusing, a creative summer time gag. So would you have once agreed with me, Ripper…"

"How did you do this?" Giles spat, the hand holding Ethan by his right shoulder now tightening as well.

"Certain ingredients combined make for a tasteless, odorless potion that is well mixed with other beverages… you know this, I am quite sure, Ripper," Ethan replied, his look and tone heavy with insinuation that made Giles's blood pressure heighten even further with anger. "Serve it for a low, grand opening price, and the primitive side of many is brought out into the open for all to see… insightful, delightful, and highly amusing," he concluded dryly, his eyebrows quirking at Giles once more.

"Amusing?!" Giles hissed, his tone dropping into a fierce, deadly tone as he pushed his face within two inches of Ethan's, so that his spittle flecked the other man's face. "AMUSING?! I have spent the past forty-five minutes having my brain wish immediate blindness upon myself as a result of your AMUSING antics! You think that this is amusing, a harmless summer's prank, a way to garner my anger and attention?! There are people causing accidents, running wildly among the streets, destroying things out of pure impulse and whim, committing acts of animal drive that they have no control over, not of their own minds and wills! These people whose predicaments you find so AMUSING could potentially harm themselves or others! How DARE you change people's entire personalities like that- how DARE you so drastically change every part of them in such a dangerous, foolish way! How dare you warp their minds like that, their thoughts-"

"Now there is where I believe you are mistaken, Ripper," Ethan said easily, holding up the one free hand he retained. "I didn't change personalities or warp minds- I did nothing to alter thoughts or feelings. I made them more distinct and plain, perhaps, pushed them closer the surface level… but I certainly did not create them. Rather, I merely enhanced what was already there with the potion in the beer…these people are doing nothing against their true wills, but rather exactly as they would like to, but cannot allow themselves to ordinarily. If you look at it that way, I am really doing them all a favor," he added, his leer growing as his voice lifted with amusement. "Besides, they'll sleep it off eventually, go back to their normal behavior…"

Giles barely heard this last tossed off remark; he was too busy freezing in reaction to Ethan's earlier words. His eyes widening, he could not respond for a few moments as he quite unwillingly thought back to what he had witnessed occur between the two Slayers. That was… that wasn't forced… they had already thought that, already felt that…already wanted that?! It wasn't…that was-

Giles could feel his face go crimson again; all he could think was, Oh dear god…

To be continued


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Author notes: Eh not so sure I like this ending…

As Buffy froze, her eyes darting between the stirring Slayer on the floor at her feet and the doorway to the kitchen- her potential escape- she found her heart was beating faster than ever. She couldn't think of what to do, what she _should _do…she could only stare in horror, hurriedly pulling her robe more tightly around herself just as Faith opened her eyes.

Faith's eyes were only partly open at first, narrowed into little slits that only showed a small sliver of slightly cloudy brown. She wrinkled her features tightly, as if in reaction to the light of the kitchen meeting her vision, or else at some pain her head that was probably equal to or worse than Buffy's, since she had probably drank much more than her before finding her in her house. Groaning slightly, she began to stir up, her eyes opening a little wider as she looked around herself, slowly at first, with clear bewilderment, then more urgently, her eyes widening as the connections began to light themselves in her pupils. She looked from the floor beneath her to her nude body to Buffy's robe, then up at Buffy's face, which was stiff and slightly distorted with her shock, and then back at her unclad body. Her face paled rapidly, shock flooding her features as well, and when she spoke, her voice was hoarse, shaking slightly.

"Oh what the fuck…what the hell did I…did we…"

Not finishing her more colorful echoing of Buff's own thoughts. Faith scrambled to her feet rapidly, snatching up her clothes and beginning to put them on so rushed that she almost put her pants on backwards, and she didn't bother with her borrowed bra or underwear. Her face still stunningly white, her features seeming almost comically exaggerated in size by her shaken demeanor, she started at a stumbling pace that was nevertheless fast toward the kitchen entrance, clearly intending to flee.

Buffy's eyes widened even more at this, and without thinking any further about it, she found herself calling out to her quickly, trying to stop her before she got any further away.

"Faith, wait! Don't go- not yet, anyway…"

"Yeah right," Faith muttered, not even taking the time to glance in her direction as she moved past her, just barely pulling away from brushing past her in time in her almost panicked hurry to escape. "Like I could really stay after- like you even want me to…"

"Of course I do!" Buffy blurted, and she was as astonished as Faith was by the words that had left her mouth. As Faith halted abruptly in her tracks, turning around slowly to stare at her, Buffy felt herself flushing furiously and hugged her robe more securely around herself.

Where had that come from?! She hadn't meant to say that! She hadn't meant to- she didn't-

But she _had_ meant it, a persistent, infuriating little voice in her head prodded her. You know you meant it, Buffy, even if you didn't mean to say it…and you know what that has to mean, even if you don't want it to…

Buffy took a slow, shaky breath, looking away from Faith quickly as she fumbled for an alternate reason for her words.

"I mean…you can't go, Faith, you, you don't have anywhere to go, or anywhere to stay…you don't have any food or money…"

"I'll manage," Faith interrupted tightly, and she too would not meet Buffy's eyes. "I always have. And like you care anyway B…I know you can't wait to have me outta your hair. I don't know what's with the stalling game here, unless you just-"

"I DO care!" Buffy burst out with, again without planning or even being conscious of thinking the words that seemed to come out all on their own. She felt herself going even redder in astonishment at herself, the heat travelling from face down to her chest and arms as well. She could not believe herself…and yet she could not stop herself from going on.

"Faith…Faith, don't go. I want you to stay…I…I want to help you."

Faith just stared at her. She was not moving towards the door anymore, but this was more from stunned incredulity at Buffy's words than her belief in them. Finally she swallowed, her full lips unconsciously thinning out into a tightly pressed line, and when her eyes met Buffy's, the older Slayer's chest hurt to see their barely controlled emotion.

"I know you remember what I did," Faith said, and her voice was hardly more than a whisper, the pain in her eyes obvious for anyone to see. "Not just yesterday, and that was bad enough…but before that…everything…and I know you don't really think it's all okay. Everyone and their mother's gonna be lookin' for me now, and they're all gonna want either to kill me or to haul me off to jail. I know you just want me to stay 'cause you still think I'm a psycho murdering bitch…"

Faith swallowed again, her eyes darting away, and then she looked back at Buffy again, lifting her chin with deliberate but forced confident evenness.

"I'm not anymore, B…I'm not gonna do that, I'm not gonna kill anyone, so don't worry. I'm just gonna go away, and stay away, so you don't have to try and make me stay anymore."

She turned away again, but she was moving much less quickly now, as if she were half hoping- or maybe even fully hoping- to be stopped. Which Buffy did immediately, grabbing her arm and holding it gently but urgently, forgetting all her horrified protests from her initial awakening as she tried to make Faith look her in the eye.

"I don't want to kill you, Faith… no one wants to…and I…I'm not trying to make you stay just because… you…you mean it though? You're not going to… you aren't… you won't…"

"Just because I was drunk doesn't make me a liar, B," Faith said quietly, and Buffy's breath caught to hear the serious tone of her voice, to see the complexity of feeling sparking in her eyes that she could not quite conceal.

"But," Faith concluded roughly, her posture stiffening, "that doesn't change anything…"

She pulled away from Buffy's hand abruptly, once more turning toward the stairs…but Buffy grabbed her arm again, almost desperately this time. She couldn't just let Faith go, even after- maybe especially after- what had happened. She couldn't let her go, without knowing where or how she would be, without…

She just… she couldn't let her go, she realized with a sudden, heavy clarity. She just couldn't let her go…

"Faith, don't go," she told her, and as she held her arm, it was her voice now that was a near whisper. "Please, don't go…"

Faith's lips pressed together tightly once more, and her shoulders drew together; looking at her, Buffy was given the impression that she was caught somewhere between running, as far and hard as she could…and drawing closer to her, leaning more firmly into her light touch…

"I have to," she said at last, but the conviction in her tone was not strong. Something in her eyes made Buffy think that she was hoping, praying to be told otherwise…and that Buffy was the only person who she might be able to bring herself to listen to.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Buffy tightened her hold on Faith's arm slightly; she was not holding her hard, but rather, firmly, with a gentle sincerity that unconsciously reflected her thoughts. Now having entirely dismissed, almost having entirely forgotten, her reservations, she looked into Faith's eyes, trying with her softened gaze, in addition to her physical contact with her, to make her understand what Buffy herself was only just beginning to.

"No, Faith, you don't," she said softly. "You have to go…and…and I wasn't lying either…"

As the implications of what she was saying began to sink in, something darkened in Faith's eyes…as her breathing began to increase in speed and intensity, Buffy could hear it, rasping, uneven. The brunette swallowed, glancing down at Buffy's hand, and Buffy knew that she wanted to pull away…and yet, she didn't do so.

"You know what I am, B," she said in a low voice, and Buffy realized then that she was shaking slightly, actually trembling…even as Faith tensed, trying to stop, her efforts only made it worse. "Even…even if you meant that…I couldn't let you. I-"

"Yes," Buffy interrupted her, her voice pitched very soft, and she stepped closer then, still holding the other girl's arm in one hand. Her stomach tightening with anxious anticipation of what she was about to do, she slowly reached to cup Faith's cheek with her other hand…

She could feel Faith's jaw muscle twitch in shock beneath her hand, and she blinked quickly, her eyes suddenly glittering… but as Buffy continued to look into them, she made herself keep her hand firm on Faith's face, made herself keep her voice steady.

"Yes, I do know who you are, Faith… and no, it isn't your choice to let me do anything."

Buffy didn't know here all this was coming from, all this daring, this sureness of words and actions… all she knew was that it felt right. As she continued to search Faith's eyes, seeing their chaotic swirling of doubt and fear, self-loathing and guilt, shame and hope, she dimly was aware of mirrored feelings, still a part of her…and in that moment, she let them go, leaning forward to gently capture Faith's lips with her own.

As soon as her lips touched Faith's, a strong near shock went through Buffy, something she had not at all expected…but more so than that, she felt a rush of freedom and carelessness come over her, even better than anything she had felt from the beer.

As she kissed Faith again, more firmly this time, Faith was stiffening, not responding, not returning her kiss. She could hear the younger girl's heart knocking wildly in her chest, could hear her heavy, almost uncontrolled breathing. Panic was coming off of Faith so strongly Buffy could almost smell it, along with a strong guilt that seemed to have overridden any instincts to move away.

Concerned, Buffy started to move away…but then Faith's arms were going around her, and she was kissing her with an almost desperate neediness, as if certain that it could be denied her in any moment. And as Buffy felt the first of Faith's tears fall silently from her cheek to Buffy's own, she knew that Faith wasn't going anywhere.

Everything else could be dealt with in its own time…for now, all Buffy could think to do was hold Faith, kiss her, show her just how much she wanted her to stay…even perfectly, completely sober.

End

Author notes: Not too sure I'm happy with the ending…seems too similar to a zillion other Buffy/Faith stories I've written. But hey, that's the way it should have gone in canon as I think you all would agree *wink wink* Soooo now I'm going to write probably one or two oneshots and then get back onto Bonded.


End file.
